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DUANE H. NASH, 

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MILLTNGTON, MORRIS COUNTY, N. J. 



117 



THE CULTURE 



OF 



Farm Crops. 

% Manual 

OF THE 

SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE, 

AND A 

HAND-BOOK OF PRACTICE 

FOR 

AMERICAN FARMERS. 




By HENRY STEWART, 



Author of 

' The Shepherd's Manual," " Irrigation for the Farm, Orchard and Garden." 

Civil Mining' and Agri cultural Engineer. 

Member of the Western Society of Engineers. 




PUBLISHED BY 

DUANE H. NASH, 

Millington, Morris County, New Jersey. 
1887. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by 

DUANE H. NASH, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



HTHBLE OF CONTENTS.^ 



PART FIRST 



PAGK 
CHAPTER I. 

The Culture of Farm Crops 7—11 

i 

CHAPTER II. 
Kinds and Condition of matter 12—15 

CHAPTER III. 
Carbon. Its Properties and Relations to Vegetable Life 16—20 

CHAPTER IV. 
Oxygen. Its Properties and Relations to Life 21 — 27 

CHAPTER V. 
Hydrogen and Nitrogen. Their Compounds and Relations to 

Vegetable Growth 28—32 

CHAPTER VI. 
Combinations of Organic Substances 33—39 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Atmosphere 40 — 44 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Water. Its Relations to Vegetable Life 45—51 

CHAPTER IX. 

Heat and Cold. Their Influence upon Matter and Vegetation 52—59 

CHAPTER X. 
Carbonic Acid. Its Properties and Functions in Plant Growth 60—64 

CHAPTER XL 
Nitric Acid. Its Composition and Uses in the Growth of Crops 65 — 69 

CHAPTER XII. 
Ammonia. Its Composition, Properties and Relations to Vege- 
table Growth 70—77 



4 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Sources of the Carbon of Plants 78— 82 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Sources of the Nitrogen of Plants 84— 92 



PART SECOND. 

CHAPTER XV. 
Inorganic Elements of Plant Growth «. 93— 98 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The Ash of Plants and its Composition 99—106 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Compounds of the Inorganic Elements of Plants 107—118. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Soil. Its Composition 119—122 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Rocks. Their Composition and Relations to the Soil 123—129. 

CHAPTER XX. 
Physical Properties of the Soil 130— 14a 

PART THIRD. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Exhaustion of the Soil 144 — 154 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Mechanical Improvement of Soils 155 — 1GG 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
How to Drain Land 167 — 172 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Irrigation of Farm Crops 173—177 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Plowing. Its Purposes and Results 178—183- 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Harrowing. Its Effects upon the Soil and Relation to the 

Growth of Crops 184 — 187 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Cultivating. Its Effects upon the Soil and the Growth of Crops 188—191 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Manures. Their Mechanical Effects upon the Soil 192—195 



CONTENTS. 5 

PART FOURTH. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Improvement of the Soil by Chemical Means. Animal Manures 196 — 202 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Vegetable Manures 203 — 208 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Composts 209 — 212 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Mineral Manures 213 — 223 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
Manufactured Manures 224—233 

PART FIFTH. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
The Structure and Growth of Plants 234 — 240 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
The Functions of the Roots 241—245 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
The Functions of the Stems 246—248 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
The Functions of the Leaves 249—252 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
The Functions of the Flower 253—257 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

The Fruit ; its Formation and its Characteristics 258—263 

CHAPTER XL. 
Improvement of Plants by Breeding and Crossing 264—270 

PART SIXTH. 

CHAPTER XLI. 
The Culture of Farm Crops 271—273 

CHAPTER XLII. 
Implements of Tillage 274—277 

CHAPTER XLIII. 
The Rotation of Crops 278—281 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XLTV. 
Grass 282—285 

CHAPTER XLV. 
Fodder and Soiling Crops 286—292 

CHAPTER XLVI. 
Grain Crops 293—303 

CHAPTER XLVII. 
Root Crops 304—307 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 
Textile Crops 308—311 

CHAPTER XLIX. 
Culture of Tobacco 312—316 

CHAPTER L. 
Special Crops 317—327 

Appendix 328—329 

Index 3hO— 334 



The Culture of Farm Crops. 




CHAPTER I. 

THE ART OF AGRICULTURE.— IMPORTANCE OF A 
KNOWLEDGE OF ITS PRINCIPLES. 

No farmer can be successful in the pursuit of his indus- 
try without a knowledge of the principles upon which the 
practice of it is founded. Every work of the farm has more 
or less of mystery attached to it. No other art, among all 
the industries of the human race is so intricate or has so 
many varying conditions and circumstances environing and 
affecting it. The soil, the season, the character of the plants 
grown, the time and manner of their cultivation; the air, 
Avater and mineral matters which furnish them with food; 
and many other things related to these; are all involved in 
an inextricable maze and mystery to the farmer who knows 
nothing of them or their relations to and reactions upon 
each other. But these mysteries are unfolded in the most 
beautiful and interesting manner, and the laws which re- 
late to the growth of plants are seen to form a system 
which gradually developes — as the farmer progresses in this 
study — into form and method from which rules may be laid 
down for his guidance; or from which he may form his own 
rules and practice as any emergency may arise. 

When principles are known and understood, one may 
form his own practice. Otherwise he is the slave and the 
victim to the innumerable accidents which befall him in 
the various operations of the farm, which are controlled in 



8 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

a great measure by the qualities and characters of differ- 
ent soils; by temperature, moisture, the action of the var- 
ious manures and fertilizers — not only upon the soil and the 
crops, but upon each other — the habits of the plants, and 
the vicissitudes of the season. But when the farmer has a 
sufficient knowledge of these and of the laws which con- 
trol their action, he is able to guide himself through the 
labyrinth, just as the sailor steers his ship safely among 
the rocks and shoals which environ his desired port, by the 
aid of the chart which lies before him, and his knowledge 
of the currents which sweep about them. For a farmer to 
succeed, and grow large crops, without this knowledge of 
his art, is as impossible as for the sailor to reach his port in 
darkness, without a compass or a chart, and wholly ignor- 
ant of his bearings, and the obstacles in his way. That so 
few farmers wholly fail in their business is a proof not to 
the contrary of this, but to the rich rewards which the pro- 
lific soil offers to man's labor and industry, and of which a 
moderate share only is sufficient for all his needs; but the 
whole of which brings competence and wealth to the most 
skillful and studious farmers. 

It is about forty years since agricultural knowledge took 
a scientific turn, and students began to search for the caus- 
es of the results which they reached by the slow process of 
a life long practical service in the field. Then a young 
man had to learn slowly, day by day, and year by year, 
often waiting many years to verify, through repeated con- 
tradictions, any facts which he learned by the closest ob- 
servation. All the gathered lore of the most successful 
farmers was then comprised in a very few books, and some 
popular beliefs, current only verbally, and handed from 
one to another amid dispute and contradiction The old 
writers upon agricultural topics merely repeal what they 
learned from the results of their practice; they wrote of 
manures from what they had seen of the results of their 
use; but they had no concej)tion of the fact that manures 
supplied the cropt with certain elements which were ab- 
sorbed into their substance and became a part of them. 



SIMPLICITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 9 

Not a farmer of that day, nor a chemist, knew that bones 
furnished phosphoric acid to plants; or that guano provided 
in its ammonia the materials from which their gluten and 
other nitrogenous substances were derived. Indeed the 
renowned father of agricultural science: Liebig — when he 
propounded his mineral theory, which was that the ashes 
of plants contained everything which they drew from the 
soil, and that if the mineral substances contained in the 
ashes, were supplied in sufficient quantity to the crops, 
there would be scarcely a limit to the product, excepting 
the space in which they were contained — knew nothing 
about the invaluable nitrogen which we now know to be 
wholly indispensable to plant growth. But light has grad- 
ually dawned upon us, and by slow and sometimes faltering 
progress, there has been built up a system of agricultural 
science which explains the laws of plant growth and affords 
the most important information to the cultivator of the 
soil. 

Science is based upon fact. Philosophy is based upon 
speculation. Science is the outgrowth of philosophy, be- 
cause before we can reach a true knowledge of any fact we 
must approach the study of it by a well devised theory, 
changed as may be necessary, and tested patiently and 
slowly until the knowledge sought is found. This know- 
ledge, when verified by practice, sufficiently proved and 
classified, becomes science. Science then is nothing for the 
farmer to fear, or cast doubt and suspicion upon. Theory 
as has been said, has no part or lot in it; it is a summary 
of known facts, and is therefore of the most valuable use 
to the farmer as it gives him a sound basis upon which to 
build up such conclusions in regard to his practice as will 
enable him to meet the various difficulties which are al- 
ways arising in his work. 

Nor need the farmer be afraid of science because of any 
difficulty in comprehending it. Truth is very simple, and 
is so plain that he who runs may read. And there is noth- 
ing in agricultural science, and nothing will be offered in 
the pages to follow, that would give any difficulty to any 



10 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

farmer's boy, or girl to understand and comprehend, to its 
full extent. 

Nothing need be said of the importance of the farmers 
vocation further than as it relates to his own interest. 
While he feeds and clothes the world, he is most interested 
in feeding and clothing himself, and in advancing his own 
condition as far as possible. Society exists now upon a 
much higher base than it did a score of years ago. Edu- 
cation and intelligence have made necessary a much higher 
civilization, and a more luxurious and less laborious living. 
All this calls fur increased income. Scientific skill in any 
art necessarily increases the value of the labor expended 
and enhances the profits of it. This is true of agriculture 
as of all other arts. Hence the farmer is compelled by 
the general advance of other industries to advance his own. 
He can only do this by increasing the products of his labor 
by means of more skillful work, and the help of every ap- 
pliance. Better culture, better manuring, better mechani- 
cal aids in the form of improved implements and machinery, 
and an economical division of labor, are all indispensable 
to him. The culture of farm crops, then becomes a most 
important subject for study and critical examination and 
whatever in the study can be turned to practical use should 
be adopted into practice. The age is advancing in every 
way; but agriculture lingers behind, perhaps because of its 
vastness and the unavoidable inertia and slow movement 
of vast interests. But it must advance with the Avorld. 
Mechanical ingenuity has given it a wonderful impetus and 
from the far better hoes of the present time, to the gigantic 
twelve-wheeled locomotives and the great ocean steam ships 
which are at his service, the farmer is helped in a thousand 
ways. Then he must improve his own work consistently 
and stand in the front as becomes the feeder of the world 
and the importance of his vocation. 

In every other country than ours, the vast importance of 
agriculture is recognized by the general governments, and 
the investigation of the principles upon which the rational 
practice of the art is founded, is made a prominent care of 



THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. H 

the state and commands the principal attention of the lead- 
ing men. Here the citizen is less closely involved in the 
affairs of government, and looks after his own class inter- 
ests himself. An American citizen glories in his indepen- 
dence, but in this case he suffers considerably as compared 
with farmers in other countries. There is then all the more 
need of private and personal enterprise among farmers. 
American farmers are better educated, read more and 
are better able to advance their own interests by skillful 
industry and untiring energy than any others. Hence, 
technical literature of the highest class abounds, and agri- 
culture is well represented in it. And these pages are of- 
fered as a modest contribution of a farmer and student to. 
this literature, and to his brother farmers and students. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER II. 

KINDS AND CONDITIONS OF MATTER.— THE ELE- 
MENTARY CONSTITUENTS OF PLANTS. 

All matter in existence, presents itself to our view in two 
forms only. The solid rock, the water of the ocean, the 
atmosphere, the plants which clothe the earth's surface and 
the animals which move over it; are all formed of two kinds 
of matter which are called organic and inorganic. Of all 
these everything which is and has been devoid of life, is 
classed under the head of inorganic substances; while liv- 
ing bodies whether plants or animals or the remains of 
these, are classed as organic matter. There are cases in 
which the two classes seem to approach very closely if not 
to mingle; but this is only apparently and not in fact, for 
the distinction between them is broad and marked and 
must appear on a close examination. This distinction is life. 
Anything which has lived, which has performed any of the 
various functions of life however simple and low in char- 
acter these may have been, is organic matter; and all else 
is inorganic. Thus while the rocks and the soil are classed 
among inorganic substances, yet the coal which we find 
imbedded deep in the bowels of the earth, or the soft porous 
sand or fine clay which is known as infusorial earth, or 
the limestone which is made up of an infinite number of the 
skeletons and shells of microscopic animals, are organic 
substances; because the coal has been formed from various 
mosses and ferns, with the larger plants and great trees, 
which have lived and died and fallen and have in time 
been buried under the soil brought by vast floods, and have 
formed the beds of coal now lying under thousands of feet 
in thickness of rocks. And the minute insects which have 
lived and died in the primeval oceans have all been en- 
dowed with life ; although they appear to the casual obser- 



ORGANIC MATTER. 13 

ver as mere stony or earthy matter. All organic matter, 
shows on examination, a certain structure or form which is 
visible to the eye or can be made so. This structure is 
either cellular or fibrous, as may be seen in the pores of 
wood or the fibers of various plants, and of muscular tissue; 
and it serves to distinguish between these two classes of 
matter. 

But there are many substances of organic origin which 
do not exhibit any observable trace of organized structure; 
as sugar, starch, gum, and yet these are formed in plants 
in great abundance. They do not possess any cel- 
lular or fibrous tissue and have never possessed any organs; 
nevertheless as they are the productions of living organized 
bodies, they are included in the general term of organized 
matter. So the ash of plants which consists of mineral 
matter only; and the decomposed dust of plants and ani- 
mals are recognized as organic matter, and as such, have a 
specially favorable effect in the soil upon the growth of 
plants. So all the ultimate products of organic matter; the 
charcoal made from wood, the vinegar, spirit, and tar, also 
derived from wood by distillation; and the vinegar and 
alcohol which are produced by the fermentation of sugar; 
are all included in the general term as organized matter. 

The cells and fibers of organic matter are in fact the or- 
gans or instruments of life by which the vital functions 
are performed and growth effected. Thus the pores of 
wood or the cells of a potato are. centers of life, and as will 
be hereafter explained, are able to effect a distinct re- 
productive action; absorb nutriment, grow and produce 
organs like themselves, and so increase the substance of the 
plants of which they form a part. 

If we take any one of these forms of matter of either 
class, excepting comparatively a few, and subject it to cer- 
tain chemical processes we shall find that it is resolved or 
separated into more than one, or several substances, as the 
case may be.. Thus a piece of limestone subjected to heat 
— which is a chemical process — undergoes a very consid- 
erable change by the separation of its component parts ; 



14 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

carbonic acid and lime; and these by further process, but 
much more difficult, can be separated into carbon and 
oxygen and the metal calcium and oxygen. If an attempt 
is made to separate or resolve these further, it is fruitless 
and we find these substances remain unchangeable under 
ever)'- known chemical process; and they remain, carbon 
and oxygen and calcium. These ultimate unchangeable 
substances, are called elementary bodies ; and those which 
are formed by the union of two or more of them are called 
compound bodies. There are now in existence sixty-five 
known and recognized elementary substances ; but the com- 
pound bodies which exist and are formed by combinations 
of the elementary bodies, are infinite in their variety. The 
rocky and earthy crust of the globe, the ocean which 
bathes it, the atmosphere which envelopes it, the plants 
which grow upon it, and the animals which cover the face 
of it ; are all made up of diversified forms of matter which 
are absolutely innumerable. A man can no more count 
them than he can number the sand upon the sea shore. 
It is one of those wonders of nature, which appeal so strong- 
ly and in a manner so full of interest to the farmer as he 
goes about his daily labors, w r ith observant eye and thought- 
ful mind, that these infinitely varied forms of matter, 
which are — so to speak — the raw materials from which he 
is enabled to elaborate by his skillful use of nature's forces, 
all the vegetable and animal products of his farm ; are 
made up of a few only of the sixty-five elementary sub- 
stances, by a most intricate system of combinations. This 
is sufficiently surprising, yet it is far more amazing 
that nearly the entire mass of these vegetable and animal 
products consists of, and may be resolved into one or more 
of only four of these simple substances. 

When any vegetable or animal substance is destroyed — 
as is commonly said — but more correctly decomposed, or 
resolved into its elements by intense heat and combustion, 
it either entirely disappears, or leaves behind it a very 
small quantity of ash. Oils, fats, gum, sugar, starch, cotton 
fiber, wool, horn, hair, when burned, either disappear en- 



THE ELEMENTARY BODIES. 15 

entirely or leave an insignificant remnant behind; while 
wood or flesh leaves but little more of earthy matter or 
ash unconsumed. All that has disappeared of these sub- 
stances consist generally of three of the elementary bodies, 
and rarely of four; while of all agricultural products the 
greater part, inclusive of the combustible and inconbusti- 
ble portions together, is made up of no more than twelve. 
The four bodies referred to are carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, 
and nitrogen. The twelve consist of these four, and cal- 
cium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, sili- 
con, sodium and sulphur. 

An acquaintance then with the most important four ele- 
ments mentioned is indispensable to the farmer; for it is 
quite impossible for him to comprehend the laws which 
govern the operations of nature in the growth of plants, or 
the reasons why he adopts certain processes in his farm work 
to aid and facilitate these natural operations, without a 
previous knowledge of the nature of these elements and 
their reactions upon each other. And at the same time it 
is of the greatest interest to him that he should have some 
knowledge at least of the nature of the other eight elemen- 
tary substances which enter more or less into the ash or 
incombustible mineral portion of the plants which he cul- 
tivates. 

A brief consideration of the properties of these four el- 
ements which make up the organic constituents of plants 
and of the eight which go to make up their inorganic sub- 
stance, will lead the way for a study of the means whereby, 
and the manner in which, they enter into the circulation 
of plants and form their substance. 



THE CULTURE OF 1'AKM CHOPS. 



CHAPTER III. 

CARBON.— ITS PROPERTIES AND RELATIONS TO VEG- 
ETABLE LIFE. 

Carbon, a word derived from the latin carbo, coal, is the 
name given to a mineral substance which occurs in an in- 
organic condition in the diamond, in graphite or plumbago 
(commonly called black lead) in bitumen, petroleum, am- 
ber and a number of mineral resins, and in an organic condi- 
tion as charcoal, mineral coal, lampblack, soot, etc. Its three 
best marked forms are the diamond which is pure carbon ; 
graphite; which is found sometimes nearly pure, but mostly 
mixed with more or less iron ; and charcoal which contains 
a small proportion of mineral matters which form the ash 
of the wood of which the charcoal is made. An interesting 
form of vegetable carbon is the fiber of the cotton plant 
which is almost pure. 

Carbon forms a large proportion of the substance of 
vegetable matter when it is freed from water ; amounting 
to from forty to fifty per cent, by weight of all the parts of 
plants grown as farm crops. It therefore performs an im- 
portant part in the growth of plants and becomes an in- 
teresting subject of study for the farmer. 

The diamond is the hardest substance known, and re- 
sists a high degree of heat, but is combustible at a very 
high temperature. When made red hot, and placed in a 
vessel of pure oxygen, it burns with a brilliant steady 
glow, combining with the oxygen and forming carbonic 
acid. It has been artificially, but accidently produced, in 
iron furnaces in which charcoal has been used as fuel ; but 
in every other way it has resisted all the efforts of the chem- 
ists to produce it. Sir Isaac Newton predicted that the 
diamond would prove to be of organic origin and this has 
some show of probability from the fact that on burning 



CARBON. 17 

the crystals a residue of ash has remained in the form of a 
cellular net work. 

Graphite is a well known and useful mineral which al- 
though seemingly very soft, its particles are so hard as to 
wear out with great rapidity the steel saws with which it 
is cut. It is produced artificially in charcoal iron furnaces 
and in the manufacture of coal gas. 

Charcoal is the form in which carbon appears of the 
most interest to the farmer, because it is derived from veg- 
etable matter, chiefly from wood, although it is made from 
peat, by charring it in heaps covered with earth and thus 
protected from the oxygen of the atmosphere which would 
change it into carbonic acid. It is brittle, black, taste- 
less, and inodorous ; and perfectly insoluble. Its perfect 
insolubility disproves the common impression that it can 
be used as a fertilizer or as plant food in any manner; but 
its peculiar behavior with other substances does give it an 
indirect agency in this way. It resists the action of the 
air as well as of moisture, hence it is almost indestructi- 
ble. 

The charred remains of timber, and of wheat and rye 
grains which have been found in the ruins of Herculaneum 
where they have remained unchanged for eighteen hun- 
dred years proves its unchangeable character. This prop- 
erty of charcoal has been made use of in preparing posts 
to be set in the ground by charring them, by which they 
are made exceedingly durable. When pure and dry, 
charcoal burns without any flame; the light blue flame 
sometimes seen when it is burned, is caused by the com- 
bustion of water of which it absorbs, in the form of vapor 
from the atmosphere, from ten to twenty per cent, in a sin- 
gle week's exposure. 

Having the porous structure of the wood or peat from 
which it may be prepared, charcoal possesses a remarka- 
ble power of absorbing gases and of condensing them in its 
pores; hence it becomes at times of much value in the soil, 
and it is to this fact that its notable effect upon vegetation 
is due. This effect is the dark green color of the herbage 



18 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

and the luxuriance of the vegetation in its vicinity; caused 
doubtless by its absorption of ammonia. It will absorb 
ninety times its bulk of this gas, thirty-five times its bulk 
of carbonic acid, and nine times its bulk of oxygen. Char- 
coal made from the hard and dense woods exerts this 
absorbing power in the greatest degree; having as 
much as one hundred square feet of surface in its ex- 
ceedingly fine pores, in every cubic inch. This power to 
condense gases gives it a very great importance in agri- 
culture in various ways. It absorbs noxious gases and of- 
fensive odors, and when crushed so as to expose its greatest 
absorbing surface will filter water and purify it from foul 
matter, and restore tainted meat to its former sweetness. 
It will absorb the deadly carbonic acid which accumulates 
in wells and pits, and thus remove the danger of loss of 
life in entering such places. It will purify and remove 
the dark color from cider, syrups, wines and vinegars, and 
is thus used to a large extent. 

Charcoal is thus a powerful disinfectant as well as a de- 
odorizer; for by condensing in its pores noxious vapors 
and gases, it removes poisonous substances from the air 
and avoids the danger of fatal diseases. It however does 
not act as an antiseptic and prevent decomposition, but 
hastens it, by absorbing oxygen, which is the most active 
agent of decomposition; and which rapidly destroys or- 
ganic matter; but while thus accelerating the decay of 
substances which are brought into contact with it, it pre- 
vents all offensive results by continually seizing upon these 
products and causing their immediate oxidation. This 
process goes on continually and thus a small quantity of 
l^owdered charcoal may have a surprisingly disproportion- 
ate effect. It is turned into valuable use in this way by 
surgeons for poultices to corrode and decompose sloughing 
and gangrenous flesh, in malignant sores and in serious 
wounds. It changes ammonia into nitric acid and thus 
serves a most useful purpose as an ingredient of manure 
heaps and composts; preventing the loss of valuable am- 
monia and changing it into the stable forms of nitric acid 



HUMUS OR VEGETABLE MOLD. 19 

and nitrates. It also changes the disgustingly offensive 
sulphuretted hydrogen of decaying manure and other or- 
ganic matter, into sulphuric acid, and thus removes a 
sometimes intolerable nuisance of barn yards and hog pens 
to uninitiated passers on the road. 

Humus is another form of carbon, although an impure 
one, which deserves notice. It is the decomposed remains 
of vegetable matter which has undergone the slow process 
of decay — a kind of combustion and oxidation — in the 
open air. It exists in swamps in the form of peat and black 
porous soil ; in woods as a dark spongy mass on the sur- 
face, covering the lower soil, and wherever a mass of veg- 
etation has slowly decayed. The leaf mold so much prized 
by gardners is chiefly humus. 

When the woody matter of plants, large and small alike, 
is exposed to moisture and air, it undergoes a slow decom- 
position, in which oxygen is absorbed. It is in fact pre- 
cisely similiar in its operation and effects to a slow com- 
bustion or charring, although accompanied by so small a 
quantity of heat as to be almost imperceptible. With the 
absorption of oxygen and its combination with a portion 
of the carbon, carbonic acid is formed. Some of the oxy- 
gen also combines with hydrogen and forms water ; but as 
the hvdrogen is taken first, a large portion of carbon re- 
mains and the mass gradually assumes a dark brown or 
black color and becomes what is termed : "vegetable mold.'* 
To this crumbled porous substance the term humus is ap- 
plied. It contains various acids, as geic, ulmic and humic 
acids. This class of substances is of great importance in 
agriculture, as by their decomposition they yield up car- 
bonic acid to plants, and have the power of absorbing and 
retaining ammonia to be yielded up for the same purpose. 

Carbonaceous matter gradually accumulates in soils that 
are always covered with vegetation, as in forests, pastures 
and prairies. This is a conclusive proof that the carbon 
of it is derived from the atmosphere, and that growth is 
more rapid than decay. When land is brought under cul- 
tivation this carbonaceous matter is consumed by the crops 



20 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

and unless it is restored by a course of good culture, by- 
plowing under green crops, or by furnishing manure to the 
soil, or by cultivating such crops as clover and grass which 
leave a large amount of vegetable matter behind them in 
their roots, the land is gradually exhausted and becomes 
unable to produce profitable crops. A crop of clover has 
been found to leave in the soil more than three tons weight 
of roots, while the roots left by wheat do not amount to 
one-fifth of this quantity. Hence we have the explanation 
of the deep rich soils of newly cleared forest land, of 
drained swamps, and of the western prairies, as well as of 
the valuable effects of clover upon the land. 



THE PROPERTIES OF OXYGEN. 



CHAPTER IV. 
OXYGEN.— ITS PROPERTIES AND RELATIONS TO LIFE. 

Oxygen is the most remarkable and important of all the 
elementary substances. It is a gas. This term gas was 
first used in the seventeenth century and is a reminder not 
only of the origin of a great part of our present chemical 
knowledge, but of the superstitions of the early periods of 
chemical investigation ; and of the recent emancipation of 
chemistry from those superstitions. The early chemists, 
known as alchemists, who believed in such notions, as the 
existence of an "elixir" or fluid, which would make man 
immortal; and of a substance which could transmute all 
the base metals to gold, and which they termed the "phil- 
osophers stone," were surprised and alarmed by the sudden 
explosions of their retorts, often accompanied by the violent 
death of the experimenters, or of the sulphurous exhalation 
and fumes which produced suffocation. They were led to 
believe in their ignorance that these disasters were due to 
the agency of spirits which refused to be imprisoned and 
brought under the power of their tormentors, and burst the 
vessels and slew the operators in revenge. The alchemists 
therefore began their work with prayers and marked their 
vessels with the holy cross from which we have had brought 
down to us the word "crucible;" a vessel in which substan- 
ces are subjected to great heat for the purpose of j^rocuring 
their decomposition. Hence we have the origin of the 
terms spirits ; as spirits of wine, spirits of nitre, etc., and al- 
so the term gas ; which was derived from the German gahst , 
a ghost or spirit. 

Oxygen is a recent discovery, having been first discovered 
in 1774 by Dr. Priestly. Its discovery was claimed by the 
French chemist Lavoisier; but the honor is generally ac- 
corded to Priestly. Its discovery, like all others of that and 



22 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

previous periods, was the result of an accidental submission 
of the red oxide of mercury to the rays of the sun concen- 
trated by a lens or burning glass. It is an interesting coin- 
cidence that the sun, the central focus of the chemical action 
of the universe, should be the agent by which the most po- 
tent of chemical agencies should have been brought to the 
knowledge of mankind. 

This discovery may well be classed as the most important 
in the history of human knowledge, rivaling the great dis- 
covery of gravitation by Newton in the preceding century, 
and throwing floods of light upon the investigations of the 
mysteries of what we call nature. Of the discovery of this 
potent substance, Prof. Liebig has observed that "it has 
produced a revolution in the manners and customs of man- 
kind. With it are linked, as results, our knowledge of the 
composition of the atmosphere, of water, of the solid crust 
of the earth, and of the influence of these upon the existence 
and life of plants and animals. Every human industry has 
been affected by it ; all trades and manufactures and by no 
means least agriculture, have been aided and advanced im- 
measurably by our knowledge of it." The study of its 
properties may be made a profitable and most interesting 
pursuit in the farmers household, in the leisure hours which 
may be devoted to the acquisition of all useful knowledge 
connected with his vocation, and no better subject could be 
selected for the most pleasing and instructive experiments. 
It is easily procured and managed by means of simple and 
cheap apparatus. 

Oxygen is a transparent, colorless, tasteless, inodorous gas, 
one-tenth heavier than the atmosphere of which it forms 23 
per cent, of its weight. It has never been condensed into a 
liquid. It exerts a weak magnetic force which is supposed 
to cause, or to be concerned in, the daily fluctuations of the 
magnetic needle ; and this property varies with its tempera- 
ture. It is slightly soluble in water, 4$ parts of it being ab- 
sorbed by 100 parts of water. 

It is neutral, possessing neither acid nor alkaline qualities, 
and although mild and bland, it exerts the most amazing 



COMBINATIONS OF OXYGEN. 23 

power in its combinations. It combines with every other 
substance and produces the most diverse and opposite com- 
pounds. With some substances it forms gases, with others 
liquids or solids; with some it forms acids of the most cor- 
rosive quality ; with others it forms alkalies equally corro- 
sive; while a union of two of these — an acid and an alkali 
— often forms neutral compounds perfectly bland and in- 
noxious. An instance may be given. With sulphur, oxygen 
forms sulphuric acid, the intensely burning and destructive 
"oil of vitriol" as it is commonly called. With calcium — a 
metal — it forms caustic lime, an intensely acrid and de- 
structive alkali, which corrodes and destroys all vegetable 
and animal substance. These two combined form sulphate 
of lime, the well known gypsum, an inoffensive and useful 
compound well known as "plaster" to every farmer. 

The oxygen of the air is equally diffused through it in 
the form of .a mixture, and not combined. If this oxygen 
were to become combined with the other element of the air, 
all life, of whatever kind it might be, would be destroyed 
in an instant ; for the product of the combination would be 
that most corrosive substance nitric acid ; but as it is only 
mixed it exerts only a beneficent action in supporting life. 
All combustion is the result of the action of oxygen, it has 
a powerful affinity for carbon and the other elements of which 
fuel is composed and unites with them so violently as to 
produce the heat and light of our fires and lamps. Com- 
bustible substances burn with greatly increased heat and 
brilliance in pure oxygen, and the reason why a furnace 
that is supplied with a blast is so intensely hot, is because a 
large volumn of oxygen is forced into it with the increased 
supply of air. Iron and steel burn with wonderful bril- 
liancy in ajar of oxygen, if tipped with sulphur, and ignited 
to start the combustion. This combustion is called oxida- 
tion and it goes on slowly in the absence of heat ; but is al- 
ways accompanied by some slight rise of temperature. A 
piece of iron which slowly oxidizes, or rusts away, to a 
brown powder — which is oxide of iron — is subjected to pre- 
cisely the same amount of heat in the aggregate, as if burn- 



24 THE CULTURE OF FA KM CROPS. 

ed in ajar of oxygen or consumed in an intensely heated 
furnace. The heat and time, in both instances, multiplied 
together, would produce precisely the same sum. Vegetable 
matter decomposes or is consumed by the action of oxygen 
in a similar way. The oxygen breaks up the organic sub- 
stance into simpler compounds; separating the other ele- 
ments previously mentioned (see chap. II) and uniting with 
them ; forming carbonic acid with the carbon, water with 
the hydrogen, nitric acid with the nitrogen, potash with the 
potassium, soda with the sodium, lime with the calcium, 
magnesia with the magnesium, phosphoric acid with the 
phosphorus, silica with the silicon, and sulphuric acid with 
the sulphur. All of these constituents of plants are thus 
seen to be composed in part of this common element, which 
pervades all nature. 

Oxygen is the universal supporter of respiration; and 
plants perform this function in much the same manner as 
animals. That is, they imbibe air through the pores in 
their leaves and separate oxygen from it and utilize this in 
their vital functions. Animals draw it into their lungs 
where it comes in contact with the blood, then and there 
loaded with impure matter brought through the veins from 
the extremities of the system, and oxidizing it changes these 
impurities, frees the blood from thorn, and sends the vital 
fluid back through the arteries, bright, clear and fitted to 
reinforce and build up the muscular tissue. And this oxi- 
dizing effect of this "vital air" as it has been called, is ac- 
companied by a certain elevation of temperature for it is 
accompanied by a chemical process closely akin to com- 
bustion. 

The air over every square inch of the earth's surface 
weighs 15 pounds. Three pounds of this is oxygen. A 
man consumes by respiration about 2 pounds of oxygen 
daily. One pound of coal in burning consumes 2f pounds 
of oxygen, so that the heat produced in a man's system by 
the process of respiration is equal to that produced by the 
combustion of one pound of coal. 

Oxygen not only contributes the vital element to the at- 



DOMINANT POWER OF THE SUNBEAM. 25 

mosphere but it also comprises 8 ninths of the water we 
drink ; water consisting of 8 pounds of oxygen and 1 pound 
of hydrogen combined. It also forms the larger portion of 
all the rocks which form the solid crust of the earth. Of 
these the three chief minerals are lime, silica and alumina, 
and of these about one-half of the mass consists of oxygen. 
Thus about one-half of all the mass of the earth and every- 
thing upon its surface is made up of this simple element, 
which no man has ever seen or will probably see ; and when 
this great fact is considered along with the vast force of 
this all pervading gas, it seems to call to the mind of man 
a type of eternal existence and resistless power. It is an 
omnipresent, all powerful spirit, benevolent and destructive 
at the same time; which holds all nature in its embrace; 
evolves life and action, and yet revels in consuming fire and 
is able to reduce all things to death and ashes. 

But the vast force of this grand element is controlled and 
reducsd to order and system by the beams of the sun. 
These are the grand antagonists of oxygen. The solar rays 
with their genial vivifying warmth bring the dormant forces 
of vegetable life into action. They start the vital germ into 
active life. The spire appears and soon brings forth the 
green leaves. These leaves absorb carbonic acid from the 
air, rescue the carbon from the grasp of the all devouring 
oxygen and store it into their cellular tissue. The roots sup- 
ported by the leaves, extract nutriment from the matter 
which has been reduced from organized substance by the 
destroying influence of oxygen and form it again into living 
organism. What oxygen has decomposed the plants recon- 
struct ; and if this element is the main spring of destruction 
and decomposition, the solar ray which staits vegetable life 
into action and gives it vitality, is the still more powerful 
controlling and counteracting agent and brings life and 
beauty from death and desolation. An ancient fable tells 
that Prometheus stole a spark of celestial fire and with it 
warmed into life an earthly body which he had formed. 
This is no fable; it is but a poetical fancy which contains 
in pleasing picturesque form a great truth. Perhaps the 



26 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

ancient poet realized through some inspiration this fact as 
yet then unknown, and put it into a form of life and per- 
sonality. The spark is the sunbeam; which indeed starts 
dead matter into life and fills the earth with vitality; caus- 
ing the luxuriant vegetation which in turn supports directly 
and indirectly every form of animal life. The sunbeam is 
then the master spirit of the universe ; controlling the great 
agent of destruction and building up again the structures 
which oxygen reduces to dust. 

OZONE. 

This subject is too important to leave without a reference 
to a form of oxygen which plays a most important part in 
nature and is believed to have some effect upon vegetation. 
This is called ozone. When an electrical spark is passed 
through dry air a peculiar odor is perceived. The cause of 
this w T as not understood until recently when Prof. Schonbien 
proved that it was a form of oxygen greatly increased in 
intensity. It is believed by some chemists that ozone (as it. 
was termed by its discoverer because of its peculiar odor) is 
formed by the combination of two atoms of oxygen with 
each other; or in other words, an oxide of oxygen. This 
substance is therefore of great intensity, equal in force to 
that of oxygen multiplied by itself. It has an extraordinary 
energy and produces changes which oxygen is unable to do. 
It corrodes silver, bleaches colors untouched by oxygen, 
destroys the odor of tainted flesh instantly, by decomposing- 
the gases which escape from it, and causes the decay of woody 
fiber w T ith excessive rapidity. It is believed to be the cause 
of the mysterious souring of milk in dairies which so often 
occurs after thunder storms, when the peculiar odor of ozone 
pervades the air. The vivid greenness of the herbage of the 
meadows after thunder showers is also suppesed to be due 
to the effects of the ozone produced and washed into the soil 
by the rain. 

This substance is readily detected by means of slips of 
test paper made by soaking them in a mixture of iodide of 
potassium dissolved in Mater, and starch. The ozone frees 



OZONE. 27 

the iodine from its combination with the potassium and the 
iodine then instantly acts upon the starch in its usual man- 
ner and turns the paper blue. At present very little is 
known of this substance, its manner of production or its econ- 
omy in nature, yet its connection with oxygen gives it an 
importance which calls for its recognition in this treatise. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER V. 

HYDROGEN AND NITROGEN AND THEIR COMPOUNDS. 
THEIR RELATION TO VEGETABLE GROWTH. 

Hydrogen, like oxygen, is a colorless, tasteless gas with- 
out any odor ; slightly soluble in water and exceedingly 
inflammable. It is never found free, but always in combin- 
ation, forming one-ninth by weight of water, and a consid- 
erable proportion of all organized matter. When combined 
with nitrogen in the proportion of three parts to one of the 
latter it forms ammonia, and this compound is always 
formed during the decomposition of organic matter. Its 
part in the formation of water by the union of one part with 
eight parts of oxygen gives to it, its greatest importance in 
the economy of nature ; and its name hydro-gen or "gener- 
ator of water" is derived from this, its chief property. 
But it is no more entitled to this name than oxygen is, but 
received it because it was discovered and became known a 
few years before oxygen. The English chemist, Cavendish, 
first discovered it as an element in 1766. The only impor- 
tant solid mineral into whose composition it enters is coal. 

This gas is the lightest of all known substances being 14£ 
times lighter than air, and hence is employed to inflate 
balloons. It will not support life, but is not noxious ; an 
animal immersed in it dies simply for want of oxygen. 
When mixed with oxygen and ignited, the gases explode 
violently and water is formed. It burns when pure with a 
light blue flame, giving out intense heat, but very little 
light and also forms water. When mixed with carbon, it 
forms the common marsh gas, and the fatal fire-damp of 
coal mines. This gas is produced by the decomposition of 
vegetable matter and accompanies the fermentation of man- 
ure in heaps in the barn yard. When mixed with air it is 



NITROGEN. 2d 

explosive, and it then produces the peculiar blue flames 
which occur by spontaneous combustion as the gas es- 
capes in bubbles from wet marshes. It is also the gas 
which is found in deep crevices in the rocks far beneath the 
surface in localities where petroleum exists, and which is 
sought for by boring, and used for illuminating purposes 
and for fuel for engine furnaces. 

Another compound of carbon with hydrogen ig the com- 
mon gas distilled from coal and used for illuminating pur- 
poses. Its more brilliant light is due to the fact that it. 
contains twice as much carbon as the previously mentioned 
gas. 

It also forms a part of all oils, fats, resins and wax ; be- 
ing combined in these with carbon and oxygen in varying 
proportions. It is a constituent of petroleum and all its 
products, including the beautiful aniline dyes which are 
made from it. It also enters into the composition of woody 
fiber, and the starch, gum, sugar and alcohols, which are 
products of it; both naturally and artificially. It is thus 
a most important element, and offers to the studious farmer 
a subject for study of great interest. 

A number of very pleasing experiments may be made 
with it, such as its production by the decomposition of water ; 
the formation of water by its combustion and union with 
oxygen ; its combustion and oxidation by means of a porous 
substance, as spongy platinum and the formation of its 
compounds. 

NITROGEN. 

This gas was discovered in 1772 by a chemist named 
Rutherford. It is diffused extensively in nature forming 
four-fifths of the atmosphere ; entering largely into the com- 
position of vegetable and animal substance, and being a 
most indispensable part of the food of plants and animals. 
About one-sixth of all animal tissue consists of this gas. 
It forms a part of many of our powerful medicines, as qui- 
nine and morphine, and of the most dangerous poisons as 
strychnine and prussic acid. It is not found in any of the 



30 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

rocks excepting those of an organic origin, as coal, which 
contains 2 or 3 per cent, of it. 

Its name signifies the generator of nitre, because it exists 
largely in this substance in the form of nitric acid and may 
be produced from it. It may be produced from air by a very 
simple and beautiful experiment. A small piece of phos- 
phorus is placed in a little saucer and floated on water 
in a dish or trough; the phosporus is set on fire and 
covered with a bell glass. The combustion of the phos- 
phorous produces phosphoric acid by its combination with 
the oxygen of the air, which is all taken up in this way; 
this acid is absorbed very quickly by the water and the 
nitrogen is left. It is then found to be a transparent gas, 
without color, taste or smell; which is unable to support 
combustion or life. A lighted match introduced into the 
gas is immediately extinguished and a mouse put under the 
bell glass dies in a short time for want of oxygen. It is not 
poisonous, but simply has no active properties, being when 
uncombined wholly inert, and for this reason was formerly 
called azote, or "life destroyer." Its purpose in nature, in 
its free state, seems to be to act as a dilutent of the exceed- 
ingly active oxygen, and to thus adapt it to the condi- 
tions of life. 

Water absorbs about I2 per cent, of its bulk of this gas, 
and it is not unlikely that plants may procure some of their 
nitrogen from this source. 

Nitrogen is most interesting when we come to consider 
its combinations. It combines with oxygen to form five 
remarkable compounds. The first of these is nitrous oxide, 
called from its peculiar effects when breathed, laughing gas. 
This is a colorless transparent gas, of a sweetish taste and 
soluble in water to the extent of three-fourths of the bulk 
of the latter. It supports combustion actively, relighting 
a glowing ember when this is plunged into it and causing 
an intense combustion of ignited substances almost equal to 
the effect of oxygen. At a pressure of 750 pounds to the 
square inch it condenses into a clear liquid which boils on- 
ly at the great heat of 1126 degrees, which is considerably 



PROPERTIES OF NITROGEN. 31 

above the melting point of lead, and freezes at 150 degrees 
below zero. The second is nitric oxide, which, although it 
■contains a larger quantity of oxygen than the proceeding, 
jet is averse to combustion and extinguishes flame. Nitrous 
acid is a gas, orange red in color, and is soluble in water to 
a large extent ; by the absorption of oxygen it becomes ni- 
tric acid. This acid is of surpassing interest to the farmer 
because it is a form in which nitrogen enters into the 
substance of plants and without which, in sufficient quanti- 
ty, farm crops cannot be produced profitably. 

Nitric acid is a colorless liquid with an intensely sour 
taste, and when combined with potash, forms the well 
known substance, saltpeter or nitre. It exists thus com- 
bined in large deposits in South America, and is found in 
small quantities in large caves in the United States. In 
combination with soda, as nitrate of soda, or Chili saltpeter, 
it is found in very extensive beds in Peru, Chili and Boli- 
via and other places along the Pacific coast of South 
America. This substance is very largely used as a ferti- 
lizer, for which purpose it is exceedingly valuable. 

Nitric acid is composed of nitrogen and oxygen combined 
and is an exceedingly active substance. On account of the 
large quantity of oxygen in this acid it possesses very active 
properties and is one of the most effective oxidizing agents 
known. It stains animal substances yellow and is thus 
used as a yellow dye. It corrodes metals very quickly and 
is used by engravers for "biting" in the etchings upon cop- 
per plates ; it ignites oil of turpentine and powdered char- 
coal, and causes such rapid oxidation of phosphorous as to 
produce explosion. 

Another most important compound of nitrogen is that 
with hydrogen, which is known as ammonia. This is a gas 
<famost pungent odor and acrid caustic taste, and has 
strongly alkaline properties. It is rapidly absorbed by 
water, which takes up more than 700 times its bulk of it, 
and then forms the water of ammonia or aqua ammonie of 
the druggist. It is produced by the distillation of horn, 
and as it was first made from deers horns, it was called 



32 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

"spirits of hartshorn." It is largely contained in decom- 
posing urine and causes the pungent odor of stables in 
which horses are kept. Being volatile, it escapes into the 
air with great ease, and unless combined with some acid 
into a permanent form it in disengaged readily from decom- 
posing manure by fermentation and heat, and is lost to the 
farmer. 

It has been supposed heretofore, that this gas was the 
source from which plants derived their nitrogen, but re- 
cent investigations go to prove that ammonia is oxidized in 
the soil and changed into nitric acid before it can become 
available for the nutriment and support of plants. 

Ammonia combines freely with acids. With sulphuric 
acid it forms a stable compound, sulphate of ammonia; 
hence it is useful to employ solutions of sulphate of iron, 
(copperas) or sulphate of lime, (gypsum or plaster) to fix 
any escaping ammonia which may be in danger of loss from 
stables and manure yards. The employment of plaster in 
this way and for this purpose is quite common among care- 
ful and economical farmers, who scatter it liberally about 
the stables and yards, and so deodorize and purify them ; 
make them mere agreeable and healthful, and save all thi^ 
exceedingly valuable fertilizing agent. The ammonia hav- 
ing an exceedingly strong affinity for sulphuric acid takes 
this from the sulphate of iron cr lime and combines with it. 
leaving the iron in the form of an oxide, or the lime in the 
form of a carbonate. 



ATOMIC WEIGHTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE COMBINATIONS OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES. 

It is cne of the grand laws of nature, that however often 
matter may change its form, it is never lost. Matter is in- 
destructible. It is changed and rechanged into infinitely 
numerous and varied forms, but it never loses a particle and 
there is no waste. Another universal law is that "of noth- 
ing, nothing only comes," and that mankind with all their 
work and labor can expect nothing more from the soil or 
from any natural element than it contains. Labor only 
changes the form of matter; it never creates anything. 
Another grand law of nature is that all matter of whatever 
kind, exists in the form of very minute particles, which are 
so small as to be invisible; that these are unchangeable; 
and that as the various elementary substances combine with 
each other, they invariably do so in precisely the same pro- 
portions. Thus 8 atoms or particles, (or pounds ; the quan- 
tity makes no difference) of oxygen, and 1 part by weight 
of hydrogen, combine to make water ; that potash consists 
ever and always of 39 parts of potassium and 8 of oxygen ; 
and common salt of 35 parts of chlorine to 23 of sodium ; 
and so on through the whole list of the 6o known elemen- 
tary substances. Certain numbers, known by long contin- 
ued experiment, and called combining numbers, or atomic 
weights, represent the proportions, by weight, in which the 
elements unite to form all their compounds. A compound 
is not a mixture. If we take salt and sand and mix them 
together, no matter how intimately, the salt remains the 
same and so does the sand, and they can be separated bv 
adding water which will dissolve the salt and leave the sand 
as it was before. The salt and water are also mixed and 
can be separated by boiling away the water and leaving the 
salt dry. The water may be converted into steam or vapor ; 



o4 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

but the only difference between the water and the steam cr 
vapor is that the particles of the water are separated widely 
apart by the heat and they become invisible ; but they exist 
still and can be brought together again and condensed into 
a fluid and reappear as water by the action of cold or the loss 
of the heat. These are mixtures. A chemical combination 
is entirely different. If we take some sulphur and burn it, 
it combines with oxygen from the atmosphere, and the solid 
sulphur becomes a powerfully corrosive gas which when 
mixed with water is known as sulphuric acid. This acid is 
a combination — not a mixture — of the two elements, and it 
cannot be separated into these without a complicated chem- 
ical process. If a piece of copper is put in a quantity of 
this acid, the copper disappears and the liquid becomes a 
solution of sulphate of copper. If the water is evaporated 
the copper sulphate remains in the form of clear blue crys- 
tals which are commonly called blue vitriol. This is a 
combination of the elements oxygen, sulphur and copper, 
but is not a mixture. 

All organic vegetable and animal substance consists of the 
four elements which have been previously described. The 
peculiar characters or properties of organic matter by which 
they are distinguished from inorganic matter and on which 
their connection with the culture of farm crops depends, are 
chiefly the following. 

They are all easily decomposed, or apparently destroyed 
by heat. Starch, sugar, cotton fiber, straw or wood, when 
subjected to heat or flame, turn black and take fire and are 
consumed. This is true of all vegetable substances. But 
clay, sand or stone cannot be thus decomposed. 

They putrefy and decompose in warm moist air, and after 
a time almost wholly disappear. This is not the case with 
inorganic substance which is not subject to putrefactive de- 
composition. 

They consist almost wholly of two or more of the few 
organic elements previously described. 

They cannot be formed by art. Many of the inorganic 
compounds may be, and have been, produced in the chem- 



COMPOSITION OF VEGETABLE MATTER. 35 

ist's labratory ; but no chemist has yet produced starch or 
Woody fiber, or sugar, or milk, or flesh, by combining the 
elements of these substances. This is an important distinc- 
tion and is likely to exist permanently ; although one can- 
not safely say what chemistry may not be able to perform 
in the direction of producing these articles of food, and of 
textile fiber, for which the world is now indebted to the art 
of agriculture, and so make the farmers labors useless. At 
present it is easy for the chemist to take apart, to analyze, 
but to put together and construct, has so far eluded all his 
skill, excepting in a very few instances. 

The four organic elements enter into the constitution oi 
plants in variable proportions. The following table shows 
the precise quantity of each element contained in 1000 parts 
by weight of the vegetable substances mentioned. 

Carbon. 

Hay from young clover 487 

Oats 507 

Clover seed 494 

Uipe Hay 471 

Peas 465 

Wheat 455 

Hay 458 

Potatoes 441 58 439 12 50 

The above named products were dried at a heat of 230 
degrees, sufficient to expel all the moisture from them. The 
quantity of water thus extracted was as follows : 

1000 parts of potatoes lost 722 parts of water. 

" " wheat " 166 

" " early cut hay " 153 

late hay " 140 

" oats " 151 

" " eloverseed " 112 

" " peas " 86 

A large quantity of water is contained in the crops grown 
upon farms even when they are dried for use. When en- 
tirely free from water, the carbon is nearly one-half the 
weight ; the oxygen is more than one-third ; the hydrogen 
about 5 per cent, and the nitrogen varies from li to 7 per 
cent.; the variation being greater than that of any other of 
these elements. These proportions represent very nearly 



Hydrogen. 


Oxygen. 


Nitrogen. 


Ash. 


66 


369 


38 


40 


64 


367 


22 


40 


58 


350 


70 


28 


56 


349 


24 


100 


61 


401 


42 


31 


57 


431 


34 


23 


50 


387 


15 


90 



36 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the relative weights in which the organic elements enter in- 
to combination in all the vegetable products which arL 4 
grown for the support of animal life. 

All vegetable products contain some inorganic matter 
which remains behind in the form of ashes when the plants 
are consumed by fire, or as dust when they arc entirely de- 
composed and reduced by decay. In both cases, when these 
operations are entirely completed, the results are exactly 
the same. This inorganic remnant varies considerably; 
oats leaving but 4 per cent.; while ripe hay leaves 10 per 
cent.; but each variety of plant contains a certain propor- 
tion cf inorganic matter which is pretty nearly constant 
and is peculiar to itself. These facts are exceedingly im- 
portant in the practice of agriculture, and are simply no- 
ticed here, coming hereafter under special consideration 
when the nature of soils and the food for plants are under 
discussion. 

After having studied the character of the organic elements 
it will appear very clearly that they will not enter into the 
substance of plants in their natural state, or as they exist 
free and uncombined with other elements. Carbon is a solid 
substance and is not soluble in water; and as plants cannot 
take up anything that is solid into their circulation and tis- 
sue, but only matter that is dissolved in water, or which is 
mixed with it in a gaseous form, or is in a free gaseous 
state, it is clear that plants cannot derive their carbon di- 
rectly from the element itself, as it exists in nature. Hydro- 
gen does not occur in the soil or in the atmosphere in a free 
state in any appreciable quantity, and in its simple condi- 
tion cannot form any part of the food of plants. Oxygen 
and nitrogen ex*ist in the atmosphere in well known propor- 
tiens, in a gaseous state, and the former is absorbed or in- 
haled under certain conditions by the leaves of plants, while 
it ii quite possible that nitrogen may also be absorbed in 
tl.c came manner. But while it is known that oxygen is 
taken up by the leaves, there is no knowledge that nitrop : i 
is; but every reason to believe that it is not. These two 
gases are slightly soluble in water and may occssionably be 



DIFFERENCE BETAVEEN COMPOUNDS AND MIXTURES. 37 

absorbed with water by the roots of crops; but bv far the 
largest quantity of these elements enter into plants in the 
form of simple or complex combinations, or chemical com- 
pounds of a distinct character, and these being absorbed by 
the plants, are separated or decomposed ; the plants then 
selecting what they require for their subsistence, and re- 
jecting the rest. It is then necessary for the farmer to study 
not only the nature of these compounds, but the laws by 
which their combinations are regulated and the manner in 
which they are effected. 

The difference between a mixture and a compound has 
been already explained, and it should always be borne in 
mind in considering this part of our subject. Combination 
is not a mechanical but a chemical action, and results in a 
permanent change in some or all of the substances employed ; 
decomposition is also a chemical action, and results also in 
permanent change of a combined substance or compound. 
When sulphur, a solid substance, is burned in the air, it is 
converted into a gas ; which is a compound of the sulphur 
with oxygen from the air. When limestone is burned in a 
kiln it is changed into lime, which is quite different from 
the original stone. This is a case of chemical decomposition 
for the limestone is a compound of lime and carbonic acid, 
and the acid is driven off by the heat, and the lime is left 
remaining. The limestone is quite neutral and inert ; it has 
no action upon water, nor any taste ; but the lime is strongly 
alkaline and will effervesce strongly if put in vinegar or any 
other acid ; if put into water, it will combine with it and 
produce great heat, and it will destroy any organic matter 
brought into contact with it. 

If hydrogen gas is burned in the air and a piece of cold 
glass is held over the flame, the vapor produced by the un- 
ion of the two gases, is condensed into drops of water on the 
glass. It is thus seen by these examples which could be 
extended almost infinitely ; how important changes in matter 
are produced by chemical combinations and decompositions ; 
gases are combined and form liquids or even solids ; liquids 
and solids are changed to gases; mild substances become 



38 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

corrosive and destructive; and corroding substances com- 
bined become mild and innoxious. 

The laws which regulate chemical action are precise and 
inviolable, and the elements unite with each other only in 
constant and definite proportions. We can mix any two 
gases together, as oxygen and hydrogen; or oxygen and 
nitrogen, in any proportion we please ; but we cannot com- 
bine them except in strictly definite quantities. We can 
burn a pound of hydrogen in any number of pounds of oxy- 
gen, but the hydrogen will unite with only 8 pounds of oxy- 
gen and make 9 pounds of water; and this proportion never 
varies. We can discharge an electric spark in a jar con- 
taining a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, and 8 parts by 
weight of the oxygen will unite with 14 parts of the nitrogen 
and form an oxide of nitrogen. If there is any surplus of 
nitrogen it will be left, and any surplus of oxygen will re- 
main; only so much of either will combine with the other, 
and no more and no less under whatever circumstances may 
exist. Moreover, the very same proportion in which any two 
bodies will combine with each other is precisely the same in 
which they will combine with any other. Thus 1 pound of 
hydrogen combines with 8 pounds of oxygen, and 8 pounds 
of oxygen combines with 14 pounds of nitrogen; therefore 
1 pound of hydrogen combines with 14 pounds of nitrogen. 
These numbers are known as the combining or equivalent 
numbers; but there are multiple proportions required in 
some cases to produce definite compounds; for instance, to 
produce ammonia, it is necessary to take 3 proportions of 
hydrogen to 1 of nitrogen. The emblems of combinations 
or the mode of representing them is by using the initial let- 
ter of the element followed in case of multiple proportions 
or equivalents by a small figure. Thus N H3. represents 
one proportion of nitrogen or 14 (pounds) and 3 propor- 
tions (pounds) of hydrogen, making 17 pounds of ammonia. 
This beautiful law; beautiful in its precision and its 
simplicity exemplifies the general law of the universe ; which 
is, order, invariable and unchangeable. This regulates not 
only the motions of the planets, the earth, moon and stars, 



CHEMICAL LAWS INVARIABLE. 39 

around the sun ; but it also rules the formation of an atom 
of salt from its component parts ; or the structure of the mi- 
nute cells of a plant. Everything in nature is subservient 
to this unchanging law, that certain causes produce certain 
effects ; which are constant and invariable under all circum- 
stances. The farmer then as he cultivates his soil and 
watches the growth of his crops, knows that when he does 
his part ; which is to prepare the soil properly, and to fur- 
nish whatever is required to fertilize it and feed the growing 
plants ; nature provides the unfailing rules by which effect 
is given to his work. There is no chance or uncertainty 
about it ; but the same surety that the results will appear in 
due time as that the sun will set in the west when the day 
is done, and will rise in due time to the fraction of a second 
in the morning. While the combinations of the four or- 
ganic elements with each other are almost endless, there are 
but few which contribute directly to the growth cf plants. 
Of these, carbonic acid, nitric acid, ammonia and water, are 
of the greatest importance ; others being of less interest. 
The atmosphere, however, which is a mixture of the two 
most important elements, and which is the grand purveyor 
of vegetable life, contributing from 90 to 95 per cent, of 
their bulk to living plants, requires careful study and 
notice. 



THE CT LITRE OF FARM CUOPti. 



CHAPTER VII. 
OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 

The earth is surrounded by a gaseous body known as the 
atmosphere or the air, which is supposed to extend to a 
height of forty-five miles above its surface. The actual 
height however is indefinite and immeasurable, because be- 
ing a gas, the air is capable of infinite expansion, according to 
the pressure upon it, and while Ave know that the pressure 
at the earth's surface of the vast mass of the air above it is 
equal to 15 pounds to the square inch, yet as the height 
above the surface increases, the pressure decreases; and as 
the pressure decreases, the air expands, therefore the exten- 
sion of the atmosphere upwards cannot be marked by any 
distinct boundary, but gradually fades to a limit which can- 
not be precisely defined. The limit however of 45 miles is 
sufficiently precise for all practical purposes. The physical 
properties of the atmosphere however, are of the greatest 
importance, as a great many results interesting to the far- 
mer as affecting the growth of his crops depend upon them. 

Air, as has been already stated, consists of 79 parts by 
bulk of nitrogen, and 21 parts by bulk of oxygen ; or by 
weight 77 parts of nitrogen and 23 of oxygen. These two 
gases are mixed or diffused together according to a law by 
which gases mixed together become evenly or uniformly 
diffused or mingled with each other, without reference to 
their weight. One may be much heavier than the others, 
yet it will diffuse itself perfectly through every part of them. 
If it were not for this law the air would not be fit to sup- 
port life. In one place there would be masses of pure oxy- 
gen which would be equally destructive of life as the masses 
of pure nitrogen which has no vital qualities at all. 

This law of diffusion has another interesting ap]}lication 
as regards the behavior of the air, and moisture in the soil, 



PROPERTIES OF THE AIR. 41 

and the even distribution of plant food ; but this will be 
noticed more fully hereafter. 

The air contains, also evenly diffused through it, a very 
small proportion of carbonic acid. This averages about 
one part by bulk to every 2500 of air ; and varies slightly 
according to circumstances. This carbonic acid is of the 
highest importance to the growth of plants, inasmuch, as it 
is from this source chiefly, that, as is believed, plants derive ~, 
this necessary nutriment, from which is formed, the cellular 
tissue, the starch, sugar, gum and fats, which they contain, 
and which makes up so large a portion of their dry sub- 
stance. 

The air also contains a varying quantity of watery vapor 
diffused through it, amounting to 1 per cent, of its weight 
on an average of season and locality. This proportion is 
largest in summer, increasing with the temperature, and 
least in the winter ; thus supplying the crops in their grow- 
ing season out of the abundance gathered up for their sup- 
port ; as well as to moderate the heat. This moisture is 
condensed as the temperature is reduced, and forms clouds, 
which, floating in the air, shade and protect the earth from 
the too ardent rays of the sun, and at night they reflect the 
heat which is radiated from the earth's surface, the loss of 
which in cloudless countries cauces intense cold in the night, 
following equally intense heat at midday, when nothing in- 
tervenes to intercept the burning rays of the sun. 

The air also contains varying quantities of matter con- 
tributed by decaying organic substances and from the dry 
soil; as ammonia evolved from putrefying plants; decaying 
leaves, and decomposing dead animals, and the excrements 
of living ones, and dust from this dried debris of animal 
life. A ray of light or a sunbeam passing through a crev- 
ice into a darkened room, shows this contribution to the 
atmosphere — which is not without its use and importance to 
vegetable life — in a myriad of particles which glisten as they 
float in the light. 

Air, like all other matter, has weight. This was first 
discovered about 200 years ago. A cubic foot of air weighs 



42 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

538 grains, or more than an ounce, and the air con- 
tained in a room 40 feet square and 18 feet high will weigh 
a ton. The weight of the air, the ease with which a gas is 
moved, and the fact that the pressure of the weight is ex- 
erted in all directions, tend to force it into every vacancy, 
and to diffuse itself everywhere. Every pore and interstice 
of the soil is filled with it. There it yields up its oxygen to 
dead matter and quickly converts it into plant food; it 
carries with it its carbonic acid upon which the roots seize 
and convey it into the tissues of the plants, where it is elab- 
orated into new cells and the starch which fills them. Like 
all other gases it expands with heat and contracts with cold. 
Every change of temperature therefore expels a portion of 
the air from the soil or impels a portion to enter it. This 
causes a constant current and change by which the air is 
renewed and that vitiated by the loss of its useful properties 
is replaced by a fresh supply. Every shower of rain expels 
it from the soil, and as the water sinks to lower depth, the 
atmospheric pressure forces air again into the vacant spaces. 
All this has a most beneficial effect upon vegetation, the re- 
sults of which are to be considered hereafter. 

This vast body of air, like the watery ocean, has its tides, 
its great currents, and its storms, which keep it in perpetual 
motion. When the farmer hies to his field in the summer 
morning, the gentle zephyr fans his cheek. In the season 
of storms the boisterous gale beats him from his path and 
forces him to take shelter. All these motions serve to mix 
the air; to purify the centers of corruption; and bring to 
them renewed springs of health and vigor. If one could 
float upon the surface of the atmosphere, great waves would 
be seen coursing over the vast aerial ocean. These extend 
for thousands of miles; have many milts of elevation and 
their courses extend across oceans and continents. These 
enormous waves and the following depressions, necessarilly 
changs the pressure of the air on the surface of the earth, 
and are marked by a change of the barometer. The result 
is an increased pressure under the wave with a rise in the 
barometer; and a decreased pressure under the depression 



CAUSES OF RAIN. 43 

or trough of the wave with a fall in the barometer. This 
indicates the approach of wind. The high pressure under the 
wave forces the air to the center of the depression and the 
winds blow from all quarters to restore the pressure. Thus 
with every wave which ruffles the surface of the vast ocean 
above us, currents are set in motion around us, and the air 
is never still. 

The watery vapor suspended in the air is affected by this 
oscillation of pressure to some extent ; but far more by the 
changes of temperature. When the air is heated, evaporation 
from the ocean and the land is active, and the atmosphere 
is charged with moisture. A wave rising in the north with 
a depression in the south, brings a cold wind. This strikes 
the warm moisture — laden air, and the vapor is condensed 
in clouds. The condensation increases with the fall of tem- 
perature ; the clouds become heavy and black, and soon the 
pattering rain drops fall upon the thirsty soil, refresh the 
crops and gladden the husbandman. Or the friction of the 
cool current passing over a warmer one, engenders elec- 
trical disturbance, when the lightnings flash and suddenly 
condense the gathered vapor, and the thunder showers pour 
down amid the deafening crashes and reverberations. 

All these facts of surpassing interest and which explain 
so simply the causes of these phenomena, are based upon a 
series of natural laws, which are as beautiful as they are 
wonderful, and they have been unfolded by science within 
a few years past. Our fathers knew nothing of them, and 
vainly imagined causes for them. But we knowing them, 
find ever new delights in their contemplation. We see 
that the vegetable world is derived in greater part from the 
air, and consists of condensed gases that have been reduced 
from the atmosphere by the agency of the sun's heat. 
Animals which derive all the materials of their structure 
from plants, destroy these while living by respiration, and 
when dead by decomposition, and return them in gaseous 
form to the air again, whence they were taken. Thus the 
offices of plants and animals neutralize each other ; the one 
takes the materials for its substance from the air and builds 



44 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

ii]) its varied and beautiful organisms; the other consumes 
these and undoes the work so performed, and pours hack 
into the air, the materials for a now generation of plants. 
And so the cycle is completed; but it never ends, because 
with each completed round a new round begins. 



THE PROPERTIES OF WATER. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

WATER.— ITS RELATION TO VEGETABLE GROWTH. 

Water is a compound of oxygen and hydrogen in the 
proportion of 8 parts by weight of the former to 1 part of 
the latter: and by volume or bulk of 1 part of oxygen to 2 
of hydrogen. It is more universally diffused throughout 
nature than any other chemical compound, and performs 
the most important functions in regard to animal and veg- 
etable life. Its remarkable properties are most wonderfully 
adapted to the existing condition of things and offer to the 
farmer and student of natural science the most interesting 
subjects for study and experiment. 

It exists in the 3 forms; a solid, as ice ; a liquid in its com- 
mon form ; and a gas ; as steam or watery vapor. At 32 
degrees of temperature it becomes ice and remains solid; 
at "any higher temperature it melts and becomes liquid and 
at 212 degrees it changes to a gas, which continues to ex- 
pand under the influence of increasing heat. Steam is 1700 
times lighter and more bulky than water and is a little 
more than half as heavy (sixty-two one hundredths) as air. 
It therefore rises quickly and becomes diffused through the 
air. Liquid water is 815 times heavier than air and a 
cubic foot of it weighs 62* pounds. 

Water in the form of ice and snow has an important ac- 
tion upon the soil and consequently affects considerably the 
interests of the farmer. 

In the act of freezing— which is a process of crystallization 
—water expands in bulk about one-eleventh. This expan- 
sive force is irresistible, because water is incompressible and 
cannot be reduced in bulk by any amount of pressure which 
can be applied to it. A very small quantity of water that 
may be absorbed by rocks, in expanding as it freezes, bursts 
asunder the particles of the stone and these flake off and 
form soil. In the soil a similar action goes on. The water 



4(> THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

contained among the particles of the soil expands and loos- 
ens these particles and separates them from each other. 
When the soil is thawed by returning warmth, a thin crust 
is loosened from each clod and fragment and falls apart 
into exceedingly fine particles, and as the warmth penetrates 
the mass this gradually crumbles down and forms a larger 
bulk of fine porous earth. Moreover the particles of soil 
themselves are ruptured ; stones are gradually disintegrated, 
and new soil is made; and these particles are thus subjected 
to the solvent action of the water of the soil by which fresh 
plant food is liberated and the soil is enriched. This effect 
is the more remarkable when we learn that one single cubic 
inch of clay when reduced to fine particles by the action of 
frost presents in the aggregate superficial areas of the frag- 
ments, a surface of at least 100 square inches. The bene- 
ficial effect of this result of freezing upon the soil is of 
incalculable value to the farmer, both as regards the me- 
chanical condition of the soil and its fertility. On clay soils 
both of these effects are produced to the greatest extent. 

In the form of snow too water exerts a considerable effect 
"which is beneficial to the farmer. The snow is exceedingly 
porous, being made up of a mass of crystals formed like 6 
rayed stars, which lie very loosely upon each other. The 
interstices contain air and act as a non-conductor of heat, 
and as a protection against the severity of the cold, and 
also against sudden changes of temperature. In very cold 
countries, the snow covering the soil early in the winter, 
prevents the freezing of it altogether, and tender plants such 
.as potatoes, often remain green under the snow the whole 
winter, without injury in the warm soil. Such a climate 
obviously favors very much the successful growth of winter 
grain. Snow has also the power of absorbing ammonia, 
oxygen, and nitrogen from the air. Ammonia held in the 
snow is gradually taken in by the soil and is not lost as 
when it is brought down by rain, which not only carries it 
off in floods, but also washes a more considerable quantity 
of it from the soil into brooks and rivers. The air which is 
held in the open spaces in the snow holds only 17 per cent. 



SOLVENT POWER OF WATER. 47 

of oxygen, against 21 per cent, in the ordinary atmosphere; 
the difference being absorbed by the snow, is carried into 
the soil with the water as the snow melts and thus conveys 
to the roots an additional supply of this vitalizing element. 

In its fluid condition, water is the vehicle by which all 
nutriment of whatever kind, is carried into the circulation of 
plants. It is itself a most important nutritive element — 
food in fact — for all plants and animals, forming about 
three-fourths of their substance and weight. It thus softens 
all tissue and gives it elasticity and strength. It is a uni- 
versal solvent; and thus brings to the roots of plants what- 
ever nutriment is needed in such a form that it can be taken 
into their tissues. It dissolves about one-thirty-sixth part of 
its volume of air ; and this air contains 10 percent, more 
oxygen than other air. It also contains from two to twelve 
times as much carbonic acid as the ordinary air. One 
hundred volumes of water absorb directly 3.55 of oxygen ; 
1.53 of hydrogen; 1.47 of nitrogen; 106 of carbonic, acid, 
or 7800 of ammonia. In this property we see how plants 
may derive the large supply of carbonic acid which they 
need for the structure of their carbonaceous tissue ; and a 
large proportion of their nitrogen which may thus be pro- 
cured from the dissolved ammonia. 

Water is never pure. As an example of its solvent power 

over solid mineral substances the following analysis of the 

water of the Dead Sea is given. 

Specific gravity of the water 1-172 

Chloride of sodium (salt) 0702.73 grains. 

Chloride of potassium 682.63 

Chloride of ammonium 3 -35 

Chloride of lime 1376.75 

Chloride of magnesia 4457.23 

Chloride of aluminium 31.37 

Chloride of iron 1 - 50 

-Chloride of manganese S- 35 

Bromide of soda 156.53 

Iodide of soda trace 

Sulphate of potassium trace 

Sulphate of Magnesia trace 

Sulphate of lime 38 - 07 

Phosphate of soda trace 

■Carbonate of lime 



4* THE OULTUBE OF FARM CHOPS. 

Silver 

Copper 

Lead 

Arsenic 

Silica 

Bitumen 

Organic matter 34.59 

Total in one gallon 13489.17 grains. 

Percent. 19.73 

The water of springs, wells and rivers is thus never pure, 
but holds in solution more or less of solid substances. Hence 
we find that land watered by irrigation from rivers produces 
much larger crops than that watered by rain ; also that land 
that has been or is periodically overflowed by floods, becomes 
exceedingly fertile. Even rain water is not pure except in 
the wettest seasons, when the atmosphere has been washed 
clean from its impure matter which is brought down by the 
showers. In this way a large quantity of solid fertilizing 
matter, as well as of fertilizing gases, is brought within reach 
of the roots of the plants by the rain which is absorbed by 
the soil. The water also dissolves matter from the soil and 
presents it to the roots in such a condition that it can be 
absorbed and utilized as nutriment. 

These fads prove how indispensable it is that the soil should 
be brought by thorough culture, and the use of the most perfect 
implements, into such a condition of jyorosity and mellowness 
that the water may be absorbed and held in it and not Jlow off 
from the surface and carry away into the streams, not only all 
its own burden of rich fertilizing matter but edso rob the soil 
of a large portion of its own possession. 

The solvent power of water is increased by heat, in regard 
to nearly all substances excepting lime and ammonia which 
are dissolved and absorbed by cold water more readily than 
by warm. This property will be further explained in a 
future chapter on heat. 

Water has a strong affinity for various substances, indeed 
it exists in a greater or less proportion in almost all solid 
bodies and in every crystallized substance ; forming in these 
cases what is known as "the water of crystallization." 

When limestone is burned, water and carbonic acid are 



DECOMPOSITION OF WATER. 49 

driven off by the heat and lime remains. (This lime is the 
oxide of the metal calcium.) When lime is brought into 
contact with moisture, about one-third of its weight of water 
is absorbed and the lime, swells, breaks apart and falls into 
a very fine powder which is perfectly dry. This water is 
combined with the lime and cannot be expelled at less than 
a red heat. Gypsum contains in the same manner 21 per 
cent, of water; alum contains 24 parts of water to two of 
solid matter ; Epsom salts contain 50.2 per cent, of water ; 
and so on through a long list of crystallized minerals. It 
has also a strong affinity for clay and all the more so, as the 
clay is finely pulverized and disintegrated ; carbonized veg- 
etable matter also takes up a large quantity of water ; hence 
the great advantage of securing as large a quantity of de- 
cayed organic matter, as may be possible in the soil. 

This is quite distinct from the mechanical grasp upon 
water exerted by porous substances, which merely hold it 
in its interstices by capillary attraction, as is the case with 
a sponge, and give it out again with great facility and with- 
out any chemical action. 

The elements of water are held together loosely and are 
combined with great ease. When hydrogen is burned in 
the air it combines with oxygen (as has been previously 
described) and forms water. If a piece of zinc is placed in 
a vessel of w T ater — a glass bowl or a wide mouthed bottle, 
for instance — and a little sulphuric acid (a few drops) is 
added, the water is in part decomposed and the hydrogen 
is set free. As this experiment is a pleasing one and very 
simple, the chemical operation is here explained. The sul- 
phuric acid acts upon the zinc and combines with it; but 
as this acid has only three equivalents of oxygen (S. O3) 
and zinc requires one more equivalent to make the combin- 
ation as sulphate of zinc (Z. S.O4) this excess of oxygen is 
taken from the water, leaving the hydrogen free, when it 
escapes in bubbles apparently from the surface of the zinc. 
If the bottle is corked and a glass or rubber tube is put 
through the cork, the hydrogen gas may be collected. But 
as it is explosive when mixed with air, great care must be 



50 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

exercised in igniting the gas, and the first which is set free 
should be permitted to escape until the air has been all car- 
ried off. 

Water undergoes continual decomposition and recombi- 
nation in the interior of plants and animals. As a fluid it 
finds its way into every cell and pore and passes out by 
transpiration after it has given up to the tissues the matter 
which is extracted from it. And so slight is the hold which 
its elements have upon each other, and so strong is their 
affinity for other elements, that they are ready to separate 
upon very slight impulses ; the oxygen forming compounds 
with one and the hydrogen with others, as the production 
of the various substances of which the plants form them- 
selves, require and demand. And when the nature of chem- 
ical combinations begins to be understood, there is no more 
wonderful fact in the study of vegetable physiology than 
the great variety of changes which are continually going 
on through the agency of the elements of w T ater and others 
which it conveys into the tissues of plants and animals. 

In the state of vapor too, w T ater exerts a very potent in- 
fluence upon the life and growth of farm crops. Vapor 
escapes from water into the air, or is absorbed by the air, 
not only at boiling heat, but at all temperatures. Even at 
a zero temperature the air takes up w T ater, as is known by 
the housewife whose linen freezes dry in the cold, crisp, 
wintry, air. A piece of ice exposed to the air in the coldest 
weather gradually evaporates and disappears. It is how- 
ever in the summer that the evaporation of water is most active; 
and it is then that the effects of the condensation of the at- 
mospheric moisture is most perceptible and useful. Dew is the 
product of this condensation. The air charged with the vapor 
which has been gathered during the heat of the day, is 
cooled at night by contact with the soil, from which the 
heat is rapidly lost by radiation. The cooling of the air 
causes the moisture to condense, forming sometimes visible 
vapor, seen in the evening and night fogs which prevail in 
some localities; but always a burden of moisture which is 
too heavy to be suspended in the air. This moisture then 



FORMATION OF DEW. 51 

faUs and settles in fine globules upon the vegetation, the 
soil, and upon all other objects which have been sufficiently 
cooled. This process goes on mostly at night, but constantly 
at other times when the temperature falls, and especially in 
the soil, in which with the constant circulation of air (prev- 
iously described) there is always the accompanying mois- 
ture ; which is condensed and deposited in the interstices 
and so supplies the demands of the plants. The more com- 
pletely the soil is made fine and pulverized the larger is the 
deposit of atmospheric moisture. 

This behavior of water under the beautiful and compre- 
hensive laws to which it is subject, affords an instance of the 
provident as well as bountiful operations of nature. Every 
one of these operations tend towards the good of mankind. 
It is the cultivator of the soil who reaps the benefits of these 
universal and beneficent laws. Yet the rewards are not 
given to all alike. We are told that the rains descend, the 
dews are distilled and the sun shines upon the just and the 
unjust ; upon the industrious as well as the idle and neglect- 
ful. An impartial and kind Providence offers these bene- 
fits with an open and generous hand ; overflowing with good 
to mankind. But Providence does nothing more. The 
farmer who avails himself of these invaluable gifts and does 
his part by studying the nature of them and their adaptation 
for his purposes ; and thus adapts them with skill and in- 
dustry to the preparation cf the soil and the culture of his 
crops, gains the highest rewards. The prizes are his; but 
the blanks in the distribution are for those who neglect 
these grand provisions and refuse to avail themselves of them. 
It is "the hand of the diligent which maketh rich:" the 
neglectful careless tiller of the soil has no promise of wealth 
from the free gifts of nature ; these are for the farmer who 
uses every possible means to secure these gifts by the prac- 
tice of an intelligent and effective culture of crops. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER IX. 

HEAT AND COLD.— THEIR INFLUENCE UPON MATTER 
AND VEGETATION. 

Heat and cold are merely relative terms. Cold is a low 
degree or absence of heat, just as darkness is the absence of 
light, and has not in any sense, or in fact, any specific ex- 
istence, as separate from heat. It is only quite recently 
that the nature of heat has been understood. It was for- 
merly supposed to be an element, a subtle fluid to which the 
name Caloric was given ; and whose entrance into a body 
produced warmth and whose loss produced cold. As some 
bodies, such as marble, felt cold and others, as wool, felt 
warm, it was believed that various substances contained less 
or more of this fluid stored up in its interstices according to 
their varying capacities. It was given, in fact, all the 
properties of a gas with some others which were believed to 
belong to it specifically. This ancient notion was exploded 
when it was discovered that heat was simply the effect of 
motion of the particles of a body, and that the intensity of 
the motion determines the temperature. 

It is not the purpose here to discuss the various theories 
which are held in regard to the nature of heat ; these may 
be studied in special works on the subject such as that of 
Prof. Tyndall. It is most important for us to consider how 
it affects those elementary and compound bodies which have 
a close relation to the growth of plants, and its effects upon 
germination and plant growth. It will be sufficient here 
perhaps to repeat the words of Dr. Locke uttered a hun- 
dred years ago in which the true idea of heat was enuncia- 
ted. He said, "heat is a very brisk agitation of the insen- 
sible parts of any object which produces in us that sensation 
from which we call the object, hot; so that what in our 
sensations is heat, in the object is nothing but motion." A 



LATENT HEAT. 53 

familiar instance may be given. If a person slide down 
from an elevated place by means of a rope held in the 
hands and he descends rapidly he feels a burning sensation 
in his hands and the skin is blistered precisely the same as 
if he held a hot iron rod in his hands. This heat is the re- 
sult of an intense vibration of the fibers of the muscles and 
skin of the hands; and is equal in degree exactly to the vi- 
bration of the particles in an iron rod whose heat would 
cause precisely the same sensation and result in the hands. 
To study the relations of heat with intelligence it must not 
be regarded as a thing, but as a condition of matter and an 
eifect of the change of a condition. 

The chief source of heat is the sun. All combustion is a 
source of heat, and as we have seen, combustion is a chemi- 
cal effect. Mechanical force is also a source of heat ; and 
friction, pressure, or any other result of force is accompanied 
by heat. Heat once produced is never lost or destroyed : it 
may disappear but it always exists. The heat of the sun 
communicated to the earth is absorbed in various ways, that 
is we use this expression ; but in truth we should say the 
force is communicated to every object brought under its 
influence. It is absorbed by the waters of the ocean and 
their particles move and separate more widely apart form- 
ing vapor. 

The amount of force (which we call heat) thus commun- 
icated has been accurately calculated. If we take an ounce 
of ice at 32 degrees and one of water at 174 degrees and 
put them together, the ice will be melted and there will be 
two ounces of water; but the temperature will be only 32 
degrees. Where has the excess of 142 degrees of heat which 
has been apparently lost by the hot water, disappeared? It 
has not been lost but has become stored up in the water 
and has become the latent or hidden heat of the liquid. 
This latent heat can be found again when the water is froz- 
en, for in the formation of ice precisely 142 degrees of heat 
are given out by the water in the gradual change of the 
liquid to a solid. 

In the same way when water is changed to steam a very 



54 THE CULTURE OF FABM CROPS. 

large quantity of heat is rendered latent in the vapor. 
Water at 32 degrees absorbs 180 degrees of heat and reaches 
a temperature of 212 degrees which is the boiling point. 
But it does boil only slowly and steam is produced very 
gradually. It is found that if the consumption of one pound 
of coal will raise a quantity of water from 32 degrees to 212 
degrees; 5i lbs. more will be required to change it all to 
steam of the same temperature. 5} times 180 or 990 
units of heat will then have been expended, but have 
not been lost ; they are stored in the steam and are the 
latent heat of the vapor of water. And when the vapor 
of water is condensed into liquid this heat is given out 
again. 

And here is another most wonderful instance of the infinite 
wisdom and beneficent adaptation of the laws of nature to 
the stability of the universe and the comfort and happiness 
of mankind. The expansion of water as it changes into ice 
has been already mentioned. This is one more effect of 
heat, that is a reduction of it, upon this liquid, and has an 
intimate connection with this part of our subject. When 
water reaches its maximum density which is 39 degrees, un- 
der the influence of the abstraction of heat, it then begins 
to increase in bulk until ice crystals form when the total 
expansion amounts to one-eleventh of the bulk. Conse- 
quently the ice floats on the surface and after a time it be- 
comes thick enough to protect the underlying water from 
the effects of cold. Were it otherwise, ice would sink to the 
bottom and as the surface water cooled it would also sink 
and the whole water would soon be changed into ice. The 
ocean would then become a vast bed of solid ice, which by 
the very force of this law would remain permanently and re- 
sist all the heat of the sun to change it. Then the earth 
would be uninhabitable. No green blade would appear on 
the surface ; no animal would find subsistence ; there would 
be no clouds, no rain ; everything would be cold and drear 
and lifeless ; a dead world. 

Again, were it not for the gradual absorption of heat by 
the melting ice and the evaporating water, the earth would 



THE FORCE OF HEAT. 55 

be destroyed by the sudden catastrophe of an overwhelming 
flood at the approach of every spring. The accumulated 
ice and snow of the winter would be changed to vast bod- 
ies of water as soon as they reached the temperature of 32 
degrees ; and when the boiling heat should be reached, the 
water would change into steam with the force of an ex- 
plosion and rend everything near it to atoms. Instead of 
being useful to man it would be a most destructive agent, 
which men would avoid as they would avoid nitro-glycerine. 
The contemplation of these thoughts gives a new force 
and interest to the fact that "the earth was given to man" 
and truly the gift was perfectly well adapted to his uses, 
and for his enjoyment. 

It has been shown that the force equivalent to the heat 
required to produce 9 lbs. of steam at 212 degrees by the 
union of 8 lbs. of oxygen and 1 lb. of hydrogen is equal to 
that represented by the fall of a ton weight down a preci- 
pice 22,320 feet high : to change this vapor into liquid a 
force is exerted equal to that of the fall of a ton down 2,900 
feet; and to change the water into ice the force is equal to the 
descent of a ton down 433 feet. And yet these enormous forces 
are going on in the soil and in the tissues of delicate plants, 
continually, silently, but omnipotently; without any out- 
ward indication. Prof. Tyndall has remarked of this lat- 
ent force hidden in a drop of water, "I have seen the wild 
stone avalanches of the Alps; which thunder and smoke 
down the declivities with a force almost sufficient to stun 
the observer. I have also seen snowflakes, descending so 
softly as not to injure the fragile spangles of which they 
were composed; yet to produce from aqueous vapor, a quan- 
tity of that tender material that a child might carry, de- 
mands an exertion of energy competent to gather up the 
shattered blocks of the largest avalanche I have ever seen 
and to pitch them to twice the height from which they 

fell." 

Combustion is a source of heat; and the decay of organic 
substance is a slow combustion. This fact is exemplified in 
the decomposition of vegetable matter. When the farmer 



56 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

makes a heap of manure, or a hot bed, the mass soon begins 
to heat and in time is changed from its previous condition 
into a black powdery substance having no resemblance to 
vegetable tissue. The heat produced by the chemical ac- 
tion which has resulted in this change has been precisely 
equal to that which would have been required to drive off 
the moisture; set free the gases ; and reduce the matter to 
its mineral, carbonaceous, and nitrogenous elements which 
remain in the mass. In like manner heat is produced 
by every chemical change. The union of water with sul- 
phuric acid is accompanied by violent heat; so is the solu- 
tion of a piece of copper in nitric acid. And as the decom- 
position of a vegetable cell in a manure heap is accompanied 
by heat so is its decomposition in the soil ; and its formation 
in the plant. 

The effects of heat — and cold — upon the soil are great 
and varied. It is the sun's heat, penetrating the soil which 
causes the germination of the seed. At low temperatures 
seeds w r ill remain in the soil for many years unchanged. 
The heat of the sun does not penetrate very deeply and at 
a very moderate depth the heat of the soil is constant, dur- 
ing summer and winter. This is caused by the effect of 
evaporation, as well as by the nonconducting property of 
the air spaces between the particles of the soil. Seeds of 
weeds and plants which remain at some depth in the soil 
are thus kept dormant for many years, starting into growth 
whenever they are brought under the influence of the 
warmth of the sun's rays. 

The heat of the sun also causes the evaporation of water 
from the soil and dries it and makes it fit for the labors of 
the farmer. But this result has also another effect which 
is unfavorable. It cools the soil and reduces the temperature, 
and when the soil contains an excess of water and the evap- 
oration is copious, this cooling is exceedingly hurtful to the 
crops. There are soils which are called cold clays; and 
swampy lands are always cold and unproductive of the bet- 
ter class of crops, favoring the growth of mosses and ferns 
and other useless plants. This is due to the constant evap- 



THE EFFECTS OF VARIATIONS OF TEMPERATURE. 57 

oration from the surface. To change the water into vapor, 
lias been shown to require a large expenditure of heat; and 
precisely the same heat is drawn from the soil when vapor 
rises from it as is imparted by the fuel of a fire which pro- 
duces the same amount of evaporation. This heat drawn 
from the soil necessarily reduces its temperature. An ex- 
periment which exemplifies this result may be made as 
follows: A few drops of ether are placed upon the skin; 
and the breath is blown upon it. The current of air evap- 
orates the volatile ether quickly, and causes a large absorp- 
tion of heat. The abstraction of the heat from the skin to 
supply this requirement of the evaporation causes a sensa- 
tion of cold upon the skin. This is precisely the effect up- 
on the soil, when the warm air blowing over wet clay or 
swampy land causes copious evaporation and is all the 
greater as the evaporation is excessive. 

This effect operates to relieve persons from the results of 
excessive heat. When the temperature rises to 90 degrees 
and over, the animal system becomes oppressed. The blood 
whose normal heat is 98 degrees, rises in temperature and 
produces serious disturbance of the nervous system, w T hich if 
not relieved quickly ends in what is known as sunstroke, 
and speedy death. But the evaporation of the water of the 
system in the form of perspiration relieves the oppression; 
carries off the heat ; cools the blood and the skin; and prevents 
the fatal results of the unrelieved heat. When an incau- 
tious person suddenly plunges into cold water, or drinks 
cold water to excess, the pores of the skin are closed in the 
one case and a chill is produced in the other; either of 
which checks the perspiration ; and prevents the escape of 
the internal heat; when fatal results are often produced. 
So the wearing of wet clothes abstracts heat from the body 
and thus produces pernicious effects; while the use of wet 
sheets in which fever patients are wrapped; rapidly cools 
the parched skin ; induces natural perspiration ; and saves the 
sufferer. 

The abstraction of heat by evaporation is so great under 
some circumstances that water can be frozen by it. This 



58 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

may be shown by a simple experiment. A shallow vessel 
containing sulphuric acid is placed in another containing 
water and both are placed under the receiver of an air 
pump. When the air is exhausted the vapor of the water 
is so rapidly absorbed by the acid that the water is frozen. 
By using liquid sulphurous acid which evaporates with in- 
tense force, and pouring it into a red hot vessel, and then 
adding water, the water is suddenly frozen into ice under 
the intense cold produced by the rapid evaporation of the 
acid. 

The lowest degree of cold ever produced; 220 degrees 
below zero; was by means of the vaporization of liquid pro- 
toxide of nitrogen mixed with bisulphide of carbon in a va- 
cuum. These examples however are not of practical interest 
to the farmer further than to exemplify the vast and varied 
changes produced in matter by heat and cold. 

The same kind of result may be produced by the sudden 
liquefaction of solids. Thus a mixture of salt and ice 
causes the rapid melting of the ice and a sufficient reduction 
of temperature to freeze water. In this case both the solids 
are liquefied and the effect is intensified. The cold thus 
produced is 40 below zero. Four ounces of sal ammoniac 
and the same quantity of saltpetre, finely powdered and dis- 
solved in 8 ounces of water, will cause a reduction of 40' 
degrees of temperature; and powdered Glauber's salts, 
drenched w T ith hydrochloric acid, will sink the temperature 
from 50 degrees to zero. These mixtures are in common 
use as the so called freezing mixtures. The newly intro- 
duced ice machines by which ice is produced at a cost of 
one dollar per ton, are operated by the vaporization of am- 
monia in the gaseous form from its solution in water. 

A very useful practical application of the liberation of 
heat by freezing is that often used to evade the freezing of 
the contents of cellars in very cold weather, by placing a 
pail full of water in the cellar. The water freezes more eas- 
ily than any other liquid or solid containing liquid ; as fresh 
vegetables and fruits; and in the act of freezing gives out 
the latent heat of the water which actually warms the eel- 



EFFECTS OF EVAPORATION ON CLIMATE. 59" 

lar. For the same reason the coolness of the early winter 
is subdued and greatly modified by the heat given out by 
large bodies of water in the act of freezing; and in this way 
lakes and rivers, as well as the ocean, have a very import- 
ant influence upon the climate of adjacent localities. Late 
frosts are avoided and the intense cold is delayed until later 
in the winter. This fact has given rise to the common 
adage, "As the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to 
strengthen," by which is meant that the cold does not be- 
come severe until the beginning of the new year, when the 
waters and the ground have become frozen and all their 
latent heat has been given out. 

The heats of the summer are also much reduced in in- 
tensity by the excessive evaporation from bodies of water and 
from cultivated soil. It has been found that the climate of the 
great western plains has been favorably modified by the in- 
troduction of irrigation and the breaking up of the vast 
areas of dry prairie which have been brought under tillage. 
Evaporation of the water thus used, or gathered in the por- 
ous soil by the rains, which are absorbed instead of flowing 
as heretofore, from the dry hard surface in vast sheets and 
floods to the nearest stream, both cools and moistens the 
air; supplies the vapor for clouds which shade the soil and 
temper the sun's rays, and which in turn descend again to 
the soil whence they came in genial cooling showers. This 
is a remarkable instance of how man's industry modifies 
climate by changing the natural conditions prevailing and 
so fits the earth for his occupation and use. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER X. 

€ARBONIC ACID.— ITS PROPERTIES AND FUNCTIONS 
IN PLANT GROWTH. 

Carbonic acid is one of the three materials which together 
form the starting point of vegetable growth ; the others be- 
ing water and nitric acid. This acid is formed of carbon 
and oxygen in the proportion of one part of the former to 
two of the latter chemically combined. It is a colorless gas, 
having an acid taste and smell; is soluble in water; weighs 
one-half more than air and can be poured from one vessel 
to another, as a liquid may be; 100 parts of water dissolve 
106 parts of this gas, and it is from this source that the roots 
of plants derive the needed supplies of it. 

It is produced by the combustion of carbon in the atmos- 
phere; when it unites with oxygen in the proportions men- 
tioned. An easy way to produce it is to burn charcoal on 
an open hearth. In a close room this combustion takes the 
oxygen from the atmosphere and fills the whole space with 
carbonic acid. This necessarily is a dangerous proceeding 
and at times causes fatal results, by the keeping of char- 
coal fires, or even coal fires, in poorly ventilated apart- 
ments. 

This gas is wholly unable to support life and when exist- 
ing in an excessive proportion in the air not only destroys 
animal life, but is also fatal to vegetable existence. Neither 
will it support combustion. Fire is extinguished by it; but 
when mixed with certain proportions of hydrogen it be- 
comes inflammable, and even explosive when mixed with 
air. It forms a large proportion of the rocks in combina- 
tion with various mineral elements. One of the most com- 
mon of the rocks, — limestone, and of which marble is one 
form, contains 44 per cent, of it and can be separated from 
it by the action of an acid or by burning. If a small quan- 



CARBONIC ACID A FOOD FOR PLANTS. 61 

tity of powdered marble be placed in any vessel and strong 
vinegar, or any acid, is poured upon it, active effervescence 
ensues and the carbonic acid is given off copiously. Chalk 
is a common form of this combination of lime and carbonic 
acid, the union of which forms carbonate of lime. One 
cubic inch of marble or chalk will yield 4 gallons or near- 
ly half a cubic foot of this gas; and the burning of one bushel 
of charcoal w r ill produce 2,500 gallons. It is also produced 
by fermentation. When cider is suffered to ferment; or 
any other liquid which contains sugar ; bubbles of carbonic 
acid gas are evolved from it and rise through it and es- 
cape at the surface. This is caused by the change of the 
sugar into alcohol by which carbonic acid is formed. The 
same result happens when a solution of malt or glucose 
is fermented for the manufacture of beer : the foam which 
appears upon the fresh beer being caused by the escape of 
carbonic acid from the liquid during its confinement in the 
barrel or bottle. The foaming of sparkling wines is due to 
the same cause. 

It is also produced by the decomposition of solid sub- 
stances which contain starch, or other vegetable matter. 
The carbon of the starch, or cellular substance, is slowly 
consumed by the low heat of the decomposition, and unites 
with oxygen, giving off carbonic acid in the process; the 
residue left after final decay being mostly all mineral 
matter. 

Carbonic acid is the principal food of plants and con- 
tributes largely to that portion of their substance, which 
is derived from the atmosphere. The supply of this nec- 
essary compound is derived both from the atmosphere, and 
from the water, which are always present 'in the soil. 
These entering into the substance of the plants, the for- 
mer by the leaves and the latter by the roots, are taken in- 
to the circulation in the sap and elaborated into the solid 
cellular tissue, starch, sugar, and gum, which are com- 
pounds of carbon oxygen and hydrogen; or carbon and 
water; as the oxygen and hydrogen exist in these sub- 
stances in precisely the proportions which go to form water. 



82 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

Thus starch consists of 12 parts of carbon; 20 parts of hy- 
drogen and 10 parts of oxygen; while it lias been seen that 
water, consisting of 2 parts of hydrogen and 1 part of oxy- 
gen, the 20 parts of hydrogen and 10 of oxygen in the 
starch are equivalent to precisely 10 parts of water. But 
it is not certain that starch is made up of carbon and wat- 
er; it is more probable that the three element;.: exist in 
starch in other forms of combination. It is certain however 
that carbonic acid is the source from which the carbon of 
the vegetable substance is procured : because carbon is in- 
soluble in water and is a solid substance, and plants cannot 
take any solid matter into their circulation and their food 
must always be in solution in water. This part of our 
subject however will be more fully treated in a future chap- 
ter and under its appropriate head. 

The air contains one part of carbonic acid in 2,500 and 
this proportion seems to be the most suitable for the health- 
ful growth of plants. The sun light has a great influence 
upon this nutritive function of this acid. When plants are 
exposed to the sunshine, it has been found that they grew 
more vigorously in an artificial atmosphere containing one- 
twelfth of its bulk of carbonic acid; but when this propor- 
tion was increased the plants were injured. When the 
carbonic acid amounted to one-half the atmosphere, the 
plants perished in 7 days; and when the proportion was 
two-thirds, the plants stopped growth immediately. In the 
shade, any increase of the carbonic acid above the normal 
amount in the atmosphere viz one twenty-five hundredth 
(.0004) proved to be injurious. This fact is of im- 
portance; for the reason that although an increase 
in the quantity of carbonic acid in the air, might stimu- 
late vegetable growth, yet it would seriously and even fatally 
disturb the balance of nature, because the air would then 
be unfit for the respiration of animals; and moreover al- 
though plants would grow more luxuriantly in such an at- 
mosphere, in perpetual sunshine, yet they would suffer in 
the shade; and would also certainly require a proportion- 
ate increase in the supply of other food, to complete their 



ACTION OF CARBONIC ACID. 63 

■growth ; for it is a well established law of vegetable growth 
that plants will not and cannot take into their circulation, 
to any considerable extent, any larger proportion of any 
one element of their structure than the normal quantity as 
found existing in them upon chemical analysis. Thus 
wheat plants contain certain elements in their composition, 
and these are found to be constant under all circumstances; 
and notwithstanding that the soil might contain an excess- 
ive quantity of any one of these elements, yet no more than 
the normal proportion would be taken up by the wheat. 
If one is increased, every one must be, and thus an increase 
•of one would necessitate an increase of all. If then the at- 
mosphere should contain an excessive quantity of carbonic 
acid and the growth of vegetation should be greatly stimu- 
lated thereby, it would lead to a very rapid exhaustion of 
the soil by the removal of the necessary mineral elements. 
This principle is a fundamental one, and applies generally 
to the growth of farm crops and should therefore be kept in 
constant remembrance by every farmer. 

Carbonic acid unites with all the alkaline minerals in the 
soil: as lime; magnesia; potash; soda; also with ammonia; 
as the carbonates of these substances. Its solution in water 
gives this liquid an increased solvent power over mineral 
substances; thus common carbonate of lime is practically 
insoluble in pure water; but when the water contains car- 
bonic acid, it is able to dissolve a considerable quantity of 
it, and this property applies to other mineral substances as 
well. This gives a practical importance to the functions of 
this acid which is of the greatest interest to cultivators of 
the soil. A simple experiment will illustrate this behavior 
of carbonic acid. A current of this gas passed through lime 
water will produce a milky appearance in it by the forma- 
tion and precipitation of carbonate of lime. After a short 
time the cloudiness will disappear by the solution of the 
carbonate thus formed, in the acid water. By heating the 
water the carbonic acid is driven off and the carbonate of 
lime is again precipitated and appears. 

The carbonic acid of the air is produced from a variety 



64 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

of sources. It is given off copiously by the lungs of ani- 
mals during respiration: it is formed during the process of 
fermentation, and the decomposition of all organic sub- 
stances. But its absorption and reproduction in nature 
seem to be perfectly balanced. It exists primarily in the 
air to the extent named and is equally diffused throughout 
the mass of it. Plants spring up and grow and form their 
substance by its absorption from the atmosphere both di- 
rectly and through the water which dissolves it. Plants de- 
cay and return their carbonic acid to the atmosphere. 
Animals feed upon the vegetation, convert the carbon into 
carbonic acid in their system by the production of vital 
heat, which is a true process of combustion ; and exhale the 
gas from their lungs. Men dig coal from the bowels of the 
earth or cut timber from the forests and use these for fuel ; 
in the combustion enormous quantities of carbon stored up 
in these substances are changed into carbonic acid, and are 
discharged into the air, in which it is immediately diffused. 
The succeeding generations of plants take this new supply 
and convert it to their uses and thus a grand routine is 
completed and the precise balance is maintained. This is 
but one of the many beautiful instances of the operation 
of a set of natural laws, the effects of which produce what 
is called the balance of nature; or the conservation of force. 
Both of these terms are well applied, and strictly correct, 
for as every operation of nature consumes force, it is the 
balance of these forces which maintains the equilibrium of 
the universe, preserving order and regularity of motion, 
which goes on undisturbed as generations come and go and 
centuries roll around; typifying the eternity of matter and 
the indestructible nature of elements. 



THE SOURCES OF NITRIC ACID. 



CHAPTER XI. 

NITRIC ACID.— ITS COMPOSITION, AND USES IN THE 1 
GROWTH OF CROPS. 

Nitrogen itself is wholly inert and has no positive action 
in nature. Its office is wholly negative. But when com- 
bined with oxygen as nitric acid, or with hydrogen as am- 
monia, it becomes endowed with the most active properties 
and enters into the most interesting and useful combina- 
tions in the structure of organic matter. Nitrogen forms; 
one-sixth part of the animal tissues and the same propor- 
tion of the so called nitrogenous, or albuminoid portions of 
plants. But there is no evidence to prove that the nitro- 
gen so combined in organic substance is derived directly 
from this element as it exists in the atmosphere; but on the 
contrary abundant reason to believe that it enters into the 
composition of plants in the form of nitric acid, which is a 
combination of nitrogen and oxygen. Moreover we are at 
a loss to know how this nitric acid enters into the compo- 
sition of plant tissue; the general drift of the evidence gained 
by the most careful experiments going to show that it is. 
carried into the plants in solution in the water of the soil, 
and is derived from the ammonia which is abundantly 
evolved from decaying organic matter in the soil and only 
to a very small extent from the contributions drawn from 
the atmosphere. 

The sources of nitric acid are threefold; first; from the 
atmosphere in which it exists as a product of the decompo- 
sition of organic matter and from which it is washed by the 
rains which dissolve it; second; from a peculiar fermenta- 
tion of organic matter, in the soil or in manure; which is 
produced by the agency of a low form of plant life; a germ 
or fungus which grows and spreads through the mass and 
causes the oxidation of the nitrogenous matter in it; or it. 



66 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

may be that it acts upon the nitrogen left free by the with- 
drawal of the oxygen from it and .so induces its combina- 
tion with oxygen; and, third; nitric acid is formed in the 
atmosphere by the action of electrical discharges by which 
the oxygen and nitrogen are brought into combination; in 
the manner previously mentioned. 

The atmospheric sources of nitric acid are not sufficient 
to account for the large quantity of it which is found in 
any ordinary crop. Various experiments have been made 
for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of combined 
nitrogen, in either of its forms, which is gathered by plants 
from the atmosphere. The average of all the determina- 
tions which have been reached, give the quantity at about 
10 pounds per acre. But the average consumption by the 
crops equals 44 lbs. per acre. So that this atmospheric 
supply is wholly inadequate for the growth of farm crops. 
This is one of seeming anomalies of nature, that while no 
less than nearly 20,000 tons of nitrogen, as it exists in the 
atmosphere, rest over one acre of surface, a crop cannot 
procure the small quantity of 44 lbs. per acre from all this 
vast atmospheric store. But this is quite consistent with 
the regular course of natural operations. The elements 
form combinations, as has been shown of an infinite num- 
ber and variety, and it is only in these combined forms 
that they serve their ends. The elementary carbon can 
provide plants with their supply of carbon, only through 
its combination with oxygen; and in like manner the ele- 
mentary nitrogen requires a certain preparation to fit it for 
assimilation by plants. 

The small quantity of nitric acid which is procured from 
the atmosphere by the crops, is however sufficient for all the 
practical needs of the intelligent farmer. He does not de- 
pend upon the air to supply his crops with this scarce and 
most valuable nutriment. By a wise course of economical 
management he accumulates a large amount of organic 
matter rich in nitrogen, the decay of which he aids by his 
skillful methods, and so provides an abundant stock of food 
for his crops. If the atmosphere then contributes a fourth 



HOW NITER IS FORMED IN THE SOIL. 67 

of what his crops need, he is the gainer by so much, and 
by his abundant provision in the form of manure and fer- 
tilizers, his fields are yearly increasing in fertility. The 
formation of nitric acid and nitrates in the soil by the ac- 
tion of the special ferment alluded to is of paramount im- 
portance to the farmer. The manner by which this result 
may be produced artificially, and has been effected for the 
production of saltpeter, is as follows. A mass of soil rich 
in organic nitrogenous compounds, as urine, animal excre- 
ments, vegetable and animal matter of any kind, is put in- 
to a heap and mixed with a quantity of quicklime. The 
heap is put up loosely so that the air can penetrate easily 
through the mass. In course of time the mass is leached, 
and the liquid, highly charged with nitric acid, is neutral- 
ized with carbonate of potash; the solution is then evapor- 
ated and nitrate of potash or saltpeter is produced. These 
heaps are known as "niter beds" and the process was for- 
merly used extensively for procuring saltpeter for the man- 
ufacture of gunpowder for warlike purposes, before the 
great natural deposits of niter in South America were dis- 
covered. These natural deposits are now the chief source 
whence saltpeter of commerce is procured, and yield thou- 
sands of tons yearly of nitrate of soda for use as a fertilizer. 
It is a probable supposition that the origin of these deposits 
was similar to that of the artificial niter beds. A vast mass 
of organic matter rich in nitrogen, such as fish, or plants of 
some kind, had accumulated in shallow lagoons of the 
ocean, and had been covered with mud by gradual deposition. 
The action of the atmosphere in the hot arid climate of 
Western South America favored the nitrification of the mass 
and the nitric acid formed, combined with the soda of the 
salt from the sea water to form nitrate of soda. One of the 
frequent convulsions of nature common to that coast eleva- 
ted the surface of the land, gradually, during the formation 
of the deposit, and the gradual rise has left the niter beds 
in their present position at a distance from the ocean. The 
compost heaps made by the farmer, in such a manner as to 
favor this process of nitrification, form a source whence a 



68 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

large supply of this indispensable plant food may be pro- 
cured. 

It is quite possible, not to say probable, that the oxida- 
tion of nitrogen may occur directly in these beds. A large 
quantity of free nitrogen is necessarily left in the mass by 
the consumption of oxygen in the decomposition of the or- 
ganic matter. This nitrogen is dissolved to some extent by 
the water in the heap, the water is decomposed by the 
chemical action, and in the aggregate result of the vigorous 
chemical actions and reactions going on there is no violent 
assumption in the conclusion that the free nitrogen is seized 
upon to some extent by the omnipotent oxygen and reduced 
to nitric acid. The possibility or probability of this is all 
on the side of the farmer who may avail himself of it as far 
as possible, by providing the means for it and securing the 
results of it if there are any. 

The earth is a great magnet and electrical disturbances 
are constantly going on, through its mass and upon its sur- 
face. Every spark of electricity, from the lightning flash, 
to the tiny discharge from weak currents in the soil, cause 
a union of the elements of the air and produce nitric acid. 
It is quite possible, and even probable, that many vexed 
questions in regard to the source of the nitrogen gathered 
by such plants, as clover, from the soil, may in time find 
their solution in this direction. So far we know that a crop 
of clover gathers an enormous quantity of nitrogen from 
some source. All we know of the subject tends to point out 
the soil as the source of it. A fertile soil may contain from 
two to three tons of nitrogen to the acre, and of this a crop 
of clover will gather in its roots and stubble and leave upon 
the soil from 150 to 180 lbs.; while no other crop could ex- 
tract from it enough to supply the needs for any profitable 
yield. The clover has procured this nitrogen in some hid- 
den way; how we know not; but we know the fact. This 
is sufficient for the purposes of the farmer, who may specu- 
late upon the causes of it, while he avails himself of the re- 
sults. It may be however that a large portion of this 
gathered nitrogen has been brought up from great depths 



EFFECTS OF ELECTRICITY. 69 

in the soil by the long tap roots of the clover plants and to 
which the roots of other plants cannot reach; and that some 
of this organic nitrogen, at least, may have been procured 
from nitric acid produced in the deeper soil by the action 
of electrical currents. Perhaps this source is over estimated ; 
but it is certain that the action of electrical discharges 
through the soil, which are quite as frequent as those through 
the air, and from cloud to cloud, have as yet not been con- 
sidered to any extent, if at all, in the discussions and inves- 
tigations of this exceedingly important question: "where do 
plants procure their nitrogen?" 



THE CULTURE OF FAKM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XII 

AMMONIA.— ITS COMPOSITION, PROPERTIES, AND RE- 
LATION TO VEGETABLE GROWTH. 

Ammonia has "been previously mentioned as a compound 
of nitrogen and hydrogen gases. It has some very inter- 
esting and important properties in regard to organic mat- 
ter, and has been made the subject of much study and ex- 
periment by agricultural physiologists. It is a colorless 
gas, but offers in its other remarkable properties, an instance 
of the wonderful changes in matter made by chemical com- 
bination. Its primary elements have neither taste nor 
odor, but when combined, this product has a most powerful 
penetrating odor; a burning acrid taste : extinguishes flame; 
is not combustible as hydrogen is ; instantly suffocates ani- 
mals; kills living vegetables, and corrodes their substance. 

It is absorbed in large quantities by porous substances ; 
charcoal absorbs 95 times its own bulk of it; peat takes up 
a large amount of it, varying with its own condition ; decay- 
ing vegetable matter also takes up and holds it in its mass ; 
porous soils, clay, and iron oxide mixed in the soils of a 
red color, are capable of absorbing and retaining it within 
their pores, when it is brought into contact with them. 

But water absorbs ammonia to a far greater extent than 
any other substance. If a bottle filled with the gas is in- 
verted in water, the water will instantly rush up and fill 
the bottle, absorbing and dissolving the ammonia and occu- 
pying its place. The solution of ammonia in water is 
lighter than water to the extent of one-eighth ; and has the 
same properties as the gas itself. 

Ammonia is an alkali and combines with acids; changes 
vegetable red colors to blue, and in combining with some 
acid gases forms solid substances; as for instance when 
carbonic acid gas is mixed with it, the two gases combine 



INFLUENCE OF AMMONIA UPON VEGETATION. 71 

and form solid carbonate of ammonia, in the form of mi- 
nute particles appearing as a white cloud. A feather dip- 
ped into diluted hydrochloric acid, or in vinegar, and held 
over a bottle of ammonia water, or any substance from 
which ammonia is escaping, is soon covered with a white 
downy substance, which in the one case is chloride of am- 
monia, and in the other is acetate of ammonia. This test 
of the presence of ammonia is an easy method of distin- 
guishing it where its escape from decomposing substances is 
suspected. 

This gas is only little more than half the weight of air 
(59 hundredths); hence it 'rises and is diffused in the air 
with ease. It consists of 14 parts by weight of nitrogen 
(82.545 per cent.) and 3 parts by weight of hydrogen 
(17.455 per cent,). 

In nature it exists in large quantity. It is almost uni- 
versally diffused throughout the atmosphere and in the 
surface soil and the waters of the atmosphere and the earth; 
but it is not known to enter into any of the mineral com- 
pounds of which the earth is composed. One exception 
may be noted and this is guano; a substance supposed by 
some to consist of the decomposed excrements of sea birds, 
and by others of infusorial matter, having some relation to 
mineral substance. But in either case guano would be of 
organic origin and a product of the decomposition of or- 
ganic matter. This substance when free from earthy mat- 
ter contains a large proportion of ammonia, both free and 
combined, and is the most valuable and costly fertilizer 
known. 

Ammonia chiefly exists in a state of combination as carbon- 
ate, but also as a chloride, and a nitrate. As it combines very 
freely with acids, and most easily with carbonic acid, it is 
rarely found free in the atmosphere, and then only tempor- 
arily ; but it is as easily separated from its combinations, 
on account of its volatile character which makes it readily 
subject to the influence of heat, 

The influence of ammonia upon the growth of plants is 
exceedingly active. It not only promotes the growth with 



72 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

rapidity and luxuriance, but it appears to exercise a con- 
siderable control over the functions of vegetable life. In 
this regard there arc several special properties of this com- 
pound which should be clearly understood, by the farmer 
and student of agriculture. 

First. — It has a powerful affinity for acid substances, and 
unites with them with great facility as it escapes into the 
atmosphere, or meets with them in the soil. Hence when 
formed or liberated in the stables; in the cattle yard; man- 
ure and compost heaps and in other places where organic 
matter is in a process of decay; it unites with such acid sub- 
stances and forms salts or saline compounds. And these 
salts appear to exert a considerable influence upon the growth 
of crops. 

Second. — This affinity for acid substances however, is 
much less active and strong than that possessed by other al- 
kaline compounds, as potash, lime, soda and magnesia. 
Hence if any one of these alkaline substances is brought in- 
to contact with a salt of ammonia, this is at once decom- 
posed and its acid is taken up by the stronger alkali, while 
the ammonia is separated and set free in its gaseous state. 
If a small quantity of sal-ammoniac (chloride of ammon- 
ium) is powdered and is . mixed with twice its weight of 
powdered quicklime, the ammoniacal gas is liberated, and 
the chlorine unites with the lime. This is one of the several 
methods of procuring pure ammonia, and is an instance of 
one of the very many useful functions performed by lime in 
the soil for the benefit of farm crops; especially upon lands 
which have been made rich in organic matter by liberal 
manuring, or which are naturally well supplied with decay- 
ing vegetable matter, as reclaimed swamps or peat bogs. 
It also shows the injurious effect of mixing lime with man- 
ure of any kind in which ammonia exists, or can be devel- 
oped by the decomposing agency of the lime, unless at the 
same time, the lime is used in moderate quantity and a con- 
siderable amount of soil or other matters which absorb am- 
monia are used to counteract this result of the lime. 

Third. — The salts and saline compounds which are formed 



AMMONIA ABSORBED BY THE SOIL. 73 

hy the union of the ammonia with acids, are like the gas 
itself, exceedingly soluble in water. Two results of this 
property follow. The carbonate of ammonia which is 
formed in the atmosphere by the union of the ammonia and 
the carbonic acid, is readily dissolved, and is washed down 
and brought to the earth by the rains and dews; the soil is 
thus supplied with most useful food for the crops, while 
the air is freed from a noxious substance and is purified for 
the use of mankind and animals. Also whatever combina- 
tions of ammonia are formed in the soil, are dissolved and 
diffused through it by the rains, or other moisture derived 
by condensation, and are carried everywhere in all direc- 
tions by the movements of this moisture among the fine 
particles of the soil. 

Fourth. — As this gas is readily absorbed by porous earthy 
matter, it is readily taken up by the soil and held in reserve 
to be yielded up to the roots of plants with the water of the 
soil which draws upon this source for a supply. Hence the 
ammonia yielded by the decomposing organic matter of the 
soil, is held safely but loosely among the finest particles of 
the soil as an intermediate deposit, to be drawn upon for 
future use as it may be required by the crops. This prop- 
erty of fine dry soil is of great importance to the farmer for 
it is exerted to a large extent, All porous substances — as 
has been previously explained — have, among other proper- 
ties, that of oxidizing organic matter. Hence it has been 
found that the dry earth used as an absorbent in the do- 
mestic earth-closets and urinals, so rapidly and effectively 
oxidize these matters which are rich in nitrogen, and in 
which the nitrogen is easily converted into ammonia, that 
they wholly disappear, and the dry earth after having been 
used repeatedly nine times in the closet, with alternate pe- 
riods of rest, still gives no indication of having been used 
for this purpose in the slightest offensiveness, or appearance 
of containing any disagreeable substance. The organic mat- 
ter has disappeared; having evidently been resolved by ox- 
idation into its elements and the gases having been absorbed 
and held by occlusion in the interstices of the porous earth. 



74 THE CULTURE OF FA KM CROPS. 

This fact is full of significance to the farmer who may per- 
ceive in it a proof of the nece.^it;/ of a thorough pulverization 

of the toil for the maximum </r<>irfJi ami yield of his crops. 

Fifth. — In the state of carbonate, — in which it mostly ex- 
ists, because of its affinity for this acid and the abundance 
of it in the atmosphere — ammonia decomposes gypsum 
(sulphate of lime) and changes acids with it; forming sul- 
phate of ammonia and carbonate of lime. This action only 
goes on however when moisture is present. The beneficial 
action of gypsum (the common agricultural "plaster") upon 
clover, corn and other crops has been ascribed to this single 
property. But popular impressions are easily formed and 
take a firm hold upon the popular mind, which does not 
Stop to think and reason, or take pains and time to observe 
closely ; hence the opinions thus formed are too often only 
superficial and partial and are not substantial enough to 
base a rule or principle upon. No doubt some of the favora- 
ble results of an application of "plaster" to the soil, in some 
cases, may be due to this mutual action of gypsum and car- 
bonate of ammonia, or of gypsum and free ammonia upon 
each other; but there are other principles involved in the 
subject which must be referred to in a more appropriate 
place hereafter and to which much of the effect of gypsum 
is undoubtedly due. Nevertheless as it is a fact that gyp- 
sum and carbonate of ammonia do exert this mutual reac- 
tion upon each other, and under favorable circumstances 
the result may be conspicuously marked upon the growth 
of the crops. For 100 lbs. of common finely ground gyp- 
sum — a comparatively small quantity to be spread over an 
acre of land — will fix or unite with nearly 20 lbs. of am- 
monia, containing 16 i lbs. of nitrogen; — a comparatively 
large quantity of this scarce and invaluable plant food, for 
it is equivalent to about 60 lbs. of nitric acid and nearly 
100 lbs. of nitrate of soda, which is considered a very lib- 
eral use of this most active fertilizer. And this fact is one 
to be studiously considered and judiciously applied by every 
intelligent farmer. 

Sixth. — The presence of ammonia in a soil which contains, 



DECOMPOSITION OF AMMONIA. 75 

decaying animal and vegetable matter, induces this matter 
to attract oxygen from the air with greater rapidity and 
abundance. That is, in simple words, ammonia assists in 
and hastens the decomposition of organic substances, and 
the result of this is that compounds are formed which react 
upon the ammonia, combine with it and form ammoniacal 
salts. When these are in their turn decomposed by lime 
or other substances in the soil, they become more available 
plant food, being more advanced towards a fit condition for 
this purpose and for assimilation into the circulation and 
cellular tissue of vegetables. 

Seventh. — The most important property of ammonia, and 
that consequently of the greatest interest to farmers, is the 
ease with which it undergoes decomposition, in. the air, the 
soil, and the interior of plants. 

In the atmosphere it is intimately mixed with a large 
quantity of oxygen and it also comes into close contact with 
this gas in the soil. By certain influences already referred 
to it undergoes a slow and constant decomposition, or oxi- 
dation, its hydrogen being converted into water, and its ni- 
trogen, wholly or in part, is changed into nitric acid. This 
change certainly goes on within the soil and most probably 
within the substance, or in the sap, of plants. That some- 
thing of this kind goes on within the plants, as Avell as in 
the soil, seems to be clearly indicated by the extraordinary 
effect of a small quantity of ammonia or of its compounds; 
in a remarkably short period of time; upon the condition 
of vegetation. This is very conspicuously seen, in the sim- 
ple experiment of growing plants in pots where the condi- 
tion of the soil can be controlled and the effects of plant 
food noted. A few drops of ammonia added to the water 
used for the plants, will be seen to change the color of the 
leaves in a very short time; producing a deep vivid verdure, 
wliere before a pale yellowish color prevailed. Investiga- 
tions are in progress to decide this question but a speedy 
solution is not likely to be reached. The conditions under 
which plants exist and the reactions of the compounds of 
which they are made up upon each other are so varied, that 



70 THE CULTURE OF FARM CHOPS. 

a judicious student hesitates to form conclusions, and pa- 
tiently repeats and verifies his experiments; and at the last 
when he is himself convinced of the truth of any result, he 
is slow to declare it to the world, but watches it and tries it 
in other ways until doubt has no longer any existence. 
Hence the slow progress of knowledge in the true science of 
agriculture and the caution with which farmers who are 
following up the experiments of professional students, should 
watch the results, and form practical conclusions therefrom. 

But the peculiar action of ammonia upon plant growth, 
and the analogy which exists between its action and that of 
other compounds, lead us to believe that ammonia enters in- 
to the circulation of plants, and that the hydrogen of which 
it contains so large a proportion, there separates from the 
nitrogen, and combines with other organic elements which 
enter by the roots or leaves and thus aids in producing the 
various solid substances of which plants are constructed and 
made up. The nitrogen is then fixed in the flowers, helping 
to produce the bright coloring matter and the agreeable 
odors; and to form the gluten and albumen of the seeds, 
and other parts. These and other important considerations 
will be more fully considered in another chapter. 

It may be exceedingly interesting to note here, the results 
of some careful tests made by a German agricultural chem- 
ist and experimenter, in regard to the effects of ammoniacal 
manures upon the yield of grain and the proportion of the 
nitrogenous substances contained in it under varying cir- 
cumstances. A number of experimental plots were treated 
as follows, and were sown with wheat. Then from 100 
parts of the produce of these plots the various amounts 
shown of gluten and starch, and the increased product, were 
estimated. 

Gluten. Starch. Produce. 

Without manure 9.2 66.7 3 

With rotted vegetable matter only.. 9.6 65.94 5 

Cowdung 12.0 62.3 7 

Horse dung 13.7 61/4 10 

Sheep dung 33.9 42.8 12 

Night soil 33.14 41.44 14 

Dried blood 34.24 41.3 14 

Dried urine 35.1 39.3 12 



EFFECT OF AMMONIA UPON WHEAT. 77 

These facts seem to show that as the ammonia in the man- 
ures increase, the yield of the crop grown is larger, and the 
more nitrogen is contained in the produce. Similar results 
have occurred in the ordinary operations of the farm and 
the facts have led farmers to use artificial manures rich in 
ammonia for the express purpose of procuring more valua- 
ble grain and a larger yield of it. Millers knowing these 
facts have taken special pains to acquaint farmers with 
them, with the purpose to procure a better quality of grain 
for making more valuable flour. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE SOURCES OF THE CARBON OF PLANTS.— HOW IT 

ENTERS INTO THEIR CIRCULATION 

AND SUBSTANCE 

It is obvious to the cultivator of the soil that the various 
plants of which his crops consist, are supported by the earth 
and the air, both. It is necessary to the intelligent culture 
of farm crops then to learn how much plants owe to each of 
these ; and for which of their elements they are indebted to 
the soil and for which to the air. As carbon contributes 
the larger part of their substance to plants this element de- 
mands the first consideration. 

Carbon is a solid substance and is therefore incapable of 
entering directly into the structure of plants. It must then 
present itself to the roots of plants in the soil, in solution in 
water; and to the leaves in a gaseous form; for it is a law 
of plant growth that no solid substance can enter into the 
roots; and no liquid or solid substance can enter the leaves 
or any other portion of the plant which is above the ground. 
Therefore the sources of all vegetable carbon must be the 
soil in which the roots of plants exist, and through which 
they penetrate; and the air in which the stems and leaves 
of plants are constantly bathed. There is always a large 
quantity of vegetable matter in a decaying state in the soil, 
and which is made up of the remains of previous vegetation ; 
and the farmer is continually adding to this by the manure 
which he applies to the land for the purpose of feeding his 
crops. And it has been shown that about one-half of this 
matter consists of carbon. The question then arises ; is this 
carbon of the soil, the source from which plants derive their 
supply; and do they feed upon it by and through their 
roots; or do they derive it from the air, in which we have 
learned that a vast amount of carbonic acid exists in the 
form of an evenly diffused mixture. It is not usual for far- 



WHENCE DO PLANTS DERIVE THEIR CARBON. 79 

mers to consider this question with much interest, if at all; 
giving more attention to the other elements of plant growth 
and leaving the carbon to take care of itself. But it is a 
question which should be carefully considered, because of its 
importance and because other questions which draw atten- 
tion from it, may become more prominent than they deserve. 
We know that there was a time when no vegetable mat- 
ter existed in the soil and when vegetation first covered the 
earth's surface. Then the first plants must have grown and 
matured without the aid of any vegetable or animal matter 
in the soil and could have derived their carbon from no 
other source than the atmosphere, directly; or indirectly, 
by its presence in the water in the soil. It is also known 
that soils which have been perfectly arid and have produced 
no vegetation, or very little previously, yield abundant 
crops when brought under culture by irrigation, and that 
plants are often grown in water and in some cases grow lux- 
uriantly without having any connection with the soiL 
Further it is a common practice for farmers, when their 
lands are unable to produce maximum crops, to seed them 
to grass or clover and to leave them for years to recuperate 
and become enriched by the gradual accumulation of veg- 
etable matter in the soil; and when these lands are again 
plowed a rich black soil filled with carbon is found, where 
but little organic matter existed previously. This also ap- 
plies to lands under forest growth, and to the rich prairies 
of the west, where the dark vegetable mold lies many feet 
in thickness and contains an inexhaustible supply of carbon; 
as well as to the peat swamps in which enormous quantities 
of carbon have been accumulated. We may also take into 
consideration the vast beds of coal which have been made 
np of accumulations of vegetable matter, the luxuriance of 
which, proved by its remains, still to be recognized in the 
coal, almost surpass imagination; and may then ask, 
whence did all this vegetable growth procure its carbon, 
which has gradually accumulated in the soil to this vast 
extent; and which we can perceive still accumulates under 
our own personal observation ? 



&0 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

Any reasonable person will be impelled to reply, the atmos- 
phere must have been the first source of it; that all these 
plants must have existed upon such carbon as they could 
gather from the air, and that as they perished, they left a 
supply in the soil which was not fit to nourish succeeding 
generations, and hence accumulated during the vast periods 
of time which have elapsed since vegetable growth first 
began. 

This reasoning is plausible and seems free from objection, 
and would seem to justify us in concluding that plants de- 
rive their carbon directly from the atmosphere. In some 
cases this must be certainly true, for there is no other ex- 
planation to be given of the circumstances. But as regards 
the culture of farm crops it would not be safe to conclude 
that the vegetable matter of the soil has no relation to the 
growth of plants, and that the carbon existing in the soil 
does not contribute to the carbonaceous substance of vege- 
tables. For facts prove otherwise. Just now the public 
interest is in a lively condition of agitation in regard, to the 
question, whence do plants gather their nitrogen, and the 
equally important question in regard to carbon is neglected. 
Farmers are actively engaged in procuring nitrogen in va- 
rious forms at very considerable expense, believing this to be 
the chiefly indispensable agent in fertilizing their crops. 
But a few farmers of intelligence, and used to closely ob- 
serve what is going on in their fields, have not lost sight of 
the importance of a large supply of combined carbon, and 
are adding to their fields as large a quantity of carbona- 
ceous matter as they can procure, with such nitrogen as 
may seem to be adequate, and are thus avoiding the ex- 
treme to which the popular belief seems to have turned. 

In considering this question in the light of present expe- 
rience, it may be considered that at first only a very poor 
and weak growth of inferior plants covered the soil; or that 
by reason of the exceedingly active chemical changes which 
were then occurring, the soil was highly charged with 
carbon in such forms as were available for plant food. In 
the one case vegetable growth would proceed slowly to fill 



CARBON DRAWN PROM THE AIR. 81 

the soil with decomposing matter and prepare it for a bet- 
ter product; and plants procuring a portion of their carbon 
from the air and gradually finding an increased supply in the 
soil from the decomposed organic matter, there would, in 
time, be a surplus, and this surplus would constantly in- 
crease, and gradually accumulate and till the soil. In the 
other case the vegetation would be developed on an enor- 
mous scale, just as we have reason to suppose it was at the 
period when the carbonaceous matter which supplied the 
materials for the vast coal beds was deposited. Climate 
necessarily would have much to do with this, as it has now ; 
for in tropical regions the vegetation is exceedingly luxu- 
riant, forming dense jungles through which it is impossible 
to pass without laboriously cutting a way with axes, over an 
enormous deposit under foot of the tangled and decompos- 
ing remains of previous luxuriant growth. 

We are forced to believe from the evidence that plants 
may derive a large portion of their carbon from atmospheric 
sources, and that they derive a considerable portion of it 
from the soil. That they are fitted by nature to draw sus- 
tenance from either source or from both; and that the pro- 
portion of their food which is derived from either source 
depends upon a variety of circumstances; such as the nature 
of the plant; the period of its growth; on the soil; on the 
abundance of provision furnished by the soil; upon cli- 
mate; season; and other circumstances; so that the most 
reasonable conclusion would be, that plants, like animals, 
have a power of adapting themselves, to a certain extent, 
to the conditions in which they are placed, and of finding 
aliment, and supporting life, and of making growth, by the 
help of such nutriment as they may most easily reach. 
Just as sheep, which are herbivorous animals, under cer- 
tain conditions are known to live upon fish, and to thrive 
as well to all appearances upon this unusual diet, as upon 
the pastures. 

But supposing that plants derive the whole of their car- 
bon from the air, or are able to do so; then knowing that no 
other compound of this element is found in the atmosphere 



82 THE CULTURE OF FARM CBOP8. 

to any appreciable extent, than carbonic acid, and that this 
compound is everywhere diffused throughout the atmos- 
phere and is always found in solution in water, the con- 
clusion cannot be avoided, that it is from carbonic acid 
that the carbon of plants is derived, primarily. This con- 
clusion is supported and confirmed by the knowledge that 
plants absorb carbonic acid through their leaves in. the sun- 
shine, and that they will die in an atmosphere from which 
carbonic acid is wholly excluded. 

Again supposing that plants derive their carbon wholly 
from the soil or are able to do so, then, knowing that the 
most abundant product of the decay of vegetable matter is 
carbonic acid; and that in a well manured soil filled with 
decaying vegetable matter, this gas must be quite abun- 
dant; and that w T ater dissolves it freely, we must be satisfied 
that it is from this carbonic acid, absorbed with the water 
of the soil by the roots that the carbon of plants is derived. 
In either case it is the carbonic acid which supplies the car- 
bon, and it is most probable that this enters the plant both 
by the roots, and leaves. Thus whether from the earth or 
the air, this gas furnishes an unfailing supply of food for 
plants from which their carbon is derived. 

But when w r ater passes through the soil it takes up what- 
ever soluble substance it may meet — potash; soda; lime; 
magnesia; silica; &c. ; and conveys them into the plants by 
the medium of their roots. Do the roots exercise a super- 
vision over the absorbed waters and reject every soluble 
form of carbon but that of carbonic acid ? This is a ques- 
tion of interest too to the farmer and applies directly to the 
practice of manuring the land. This subject is out of place 
as yet, but the question is pertinent to the present enquiry. 
It is known that plants do not exercise such a watch and 
have no discretionary power over the water which they ab- 
sorb; for various coloring matters as madder and the juice 
of poke root berries have been absorbed into the circulation 
of plants and have imparted their color to the flow T ers, and 
other parts. These coloring matters then undergo a chem- 
ical change in the plants and even afford nutriment. Sugar 



CARBONIC ACID A FOOD FOR PLANTS. 83 

gum and gelatine have been thus fed to plants, with the e£« 
feet of making them grow vigorously. A great variety of 
organic substances containing carbon may therefore be ab- 
sorbed into the plants and afford nourishment. Practical 
farmers act on this principle and it forms the basis of many 
of his operations and daily labors as he accumulates a stock 
of organic substances in the form of manures as food for his 
crops. 



THE CULTURE OF FAEM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SOURCES OF THE NITROGEN OF PLANTS.— ITS COM- 
POUNDS AND THEIR EFFECTS UPON THE 
GROWTH OF PLANTS. 

While the quantity of nitrogen contained in plants is 
small as compared with that of other elements, yet its office 
in the structure of plants, and especially of their seed.<, i* 
so important that careful and patient study of the character 
and changes of this element is well worthy of the time em- 
ployed. It is not always the most abundant elements in 
nature that are the most worthy of regard. The chief pur- 
pose of many farm crops is the seed, and although this part 
of their substance may be quite insignificant in quantity, 
yet it is often the most precious and highly valued ; and it 
is in the seed that the nitrogen of plants is most abundantly 
stored. Again while the nitrogen in the more bulky crops 
may be but 1 to 2 per cent., this element is the most impor- 
tant for the profitable feeding of farm stock : as it contrib- 
utes largely to the formation of the muscular tissue and 
supplies the waste of it by muscular exertion. 

Moreover, any substance is to be valued according to the 
difficulty of obtaining it. A diamond is so highly valued 
as it is, because a whole year's labor of several men may be 
spent in the vain search for one, and its enormous price in 
commerce merely represents the labor spent in its success- 
ful discovery. Nitrogen is the most costly substance the 
farmer is obliged to procure for the purpose of feeding his 
crops, and although it is the most abundant constituent of 
the atmosphere, yet it is so inert and passive and submits 
to combination with other elements so unwillingly, that na- 
ture supplies only a small portion of what the soil requires 
of it, to produce a profitable crop. It is a most serious fact 
in regard to this point, that the greater part of the farmers 



THE IMPORTANCE OF NITROGEN. 85 

labor and his largest expenditures for fertilizing matter, are 
made necessary for the purpose of supplying his field with 
an adequate amount of nitrogen for the growth of good 
crops. Does he spend labor and care in the preparation of 
the soil ? it is that nitrogen compounds may be developed in 
it. Does he feed his cattle with rich food purchased at 
great cost? it is that the manure may be enriched with as 
large a quantity as possible of this valued element. Does 
he laboriously gather organic matter and lime, and compost 
these with his manure, and sedulously watch over the de- 
cay of these materials ? it is that the nitrogen developed 
may not be lost, but preserved for use to supply the never 
satisfied needs of his crops. And thus his thoughts by day, 
and his reflections by night ; his labors ; studies ; and ex- 
penditures ; all center upon this one most important, but 
otherwise inconsiderable element of vegetable matter. 

With regard to an element so difficult to be procured, it 
is a serious fact that its consumption in the soil is compara- 
tively large. A crop of hay takes 60 lbs. of it from one 
acre of the soil ; a crop of clover removes 180 lbs. ; wheat 
carries off 45 lbs. Hereafter this subject will be pursued 
to its completion, here it is the purpose to consider the 
sources from which plants can procure their supply rather 
than the amount of it which they need. 

When we come face to face with this question we are 
met with the fact, that the only source from which any 
large quantity of nitrogen can be obtained is the atmosphere. 
Nitrogen does not exist in the rocks excepting in those of 
an organic origin as coal; the atmosphere is the great store- 
house of it. Organic matter contains a considerable quan- 
tity of it, and its decay in the soil furnishes the crops with 
a large part of their demands; but the first j)lants which 
covered the soil must have procured their supply, as they 
procured their carbon ; viz, from the atmosphere, primarily. 
But in coming to this conclusion it by no means follows that 
the nitrogen of the atmosphere is directly absorbed by 
plants and made subservient to their growth ; or that it is 
absorbed in an uncombined state through any other me- 



86 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

dium. Though the leaves of plants are continually sur- 
rounded by nitrogen, and the roots may be bathed in 
water containing it in solution, yet there is no evidence to 
show that any plant is so constituted as to avail itself of 
this supply. Indeed there is ' a good deal of evidence to 
prove that the leaves do not absorb nitrogen and that if 
any uncombined nitrogen at all is contributed by the at- 
mosphere and used by plants, it is through the roots that 
it must enter into their circulation. But that even this oc- 
curs is a matter of opinion only, with no evidence to sup- 
port it. 

It is an essential part of good farming to break up the 
land and reduce it by thorough tillage, by means of the 
most effective implements, to a loose and mellow condition, 
so that the air can have access to the decaying organic mat- 
ter in the soil ; as well as to the living roots which permeate 
the earth in all directions to considerable depths below the 
surface. When the air is thus admitted to the roots, it is not 
impossible that some of the nitrogen, as well as some of the 
oxygen, may be absorbed and made use of by the plant di- 
rectly ; but in the changes in the organic matter which oc- 
cur, it is known that nitrogen is disengaged in a form in 
which it can be appropriated by plants ; and it is probable 
that some atmospheric nitrogen may also be seized upon 
and converted into plant food at the same time. To what 
extent this may happen however we have as yet no certain re- 
sults from which any definite knowledge has been reached. 
If any nitrogen enters the roots of plants in solution in wa- 
ter, the quantity is very small and uncertain. 

When water is exposed to the air it gradually absorbs 
both oxygen and nitrogen ; as has been previously men- 
tioned. The whole quantity of these mixed gases thus tak- 
en up amounts to about 4 per cent, of the volume of the 
water and in rain water about two-thirds of this quantity 
consists of nitrogen. A hundred cubic inches of rain water 
will therefore carry into the soil 2f inches of this gas. But 
this water in passing through the soil dissolves also • other 
substances ; carbonic acid and various solid matters and in. 



THE NITROGEN DERIVED FROM THE AIR. 87 

doing so gives off a portion of the other gases which it bad 
previously taken up and absorbed from the air. But if the 
water should actually carry to the roots and take with it 
into the circulation of the plants 2 per cent, of its bulk of 
nitrogen, the whole amount of this nitrogen would be quite 
inadequate to supply the requirements of a crop. For the 
whole rain fall in this country, during the season when a 
crop of hay, wheat, or oats is grown, amounts to about 8 
inches ; and of this at least one-half is evaporated very soon 
after it has fallen. If we suppose the quantity left in the 
soil during this period amounts to G inches there would be 
864 cubic inches of water fall upon a square foot, contain- 
ing of nitrogen about 17 cubic inches, or about 5 grains in 
weight. This would give something over 30 lbs. to the 
acre of nitrogen carried into the soil. But it would be un- 
reasonable to suppose that more than one-third of this quan- 
tity would be carried into the roots and be transpired by 
the leaves of any growing crop. There would then be 
about 10 pounds of nitrogen carried into the circulation of 
the plants, which is only one-sixth part of that which is 
contained in a crop of hay, and one-eighteenth part of that 
removed from the soil in a crop of clover. 

This is a rough estimation, but it affords convincing proof 
that plants cannot depend upon the atmosphere for their 
supply of this element ; but that they draw their chief sup- 
ply of it from its combinations with oxygen and hydrogen. 

If it is asked how the first plants grown upon the soil, 
the origin of vegetable growth upon the earth, gained the 
nitrogen they required to build up their tissues, it may be 
replied, that in this case, the earliest plants grown were not 
of that highly organized character which demanded a large 
proportion of nitrogen. In the coal beds, which were form- 
ed of vast deposits of vegetable matter accumulated during 
lengthened periods of time, are found plants of a far lower 
character than those grown as farm crops. Mosses, ferns, 
and semi-aquatic plants made up the larger bulk of them, 
and as these died and decayed, the little nitrogen they pos- 
sessed gradually accumulated in the soil in the mass of de- 



88 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

cayed matter which remained. This process continually 

repeated, laid a foundation for a higher character of vege- 
table growth ; until in time the soil became well supplied 
with organic matter; and fitted for the occupation of man, 
who afterwards appeared upon the scene, and entered into 
possession of a soil abounding in accumulated fertility. 
We know of our own knowledge that the soil we cultivate, 
however rich it may be at the first, is very quickly ex- 
hausted of nitrogen, and that a renewed supply is indispen- 
sable to the growth of crops. This exhaustion is so rapid 
that there connot be any material addition to the supply, 
from the atmosphere. 

The most important combination of nitrogen is that with 
hydrogen, known as ammonia; and that this gas enters into 
the circulation of plants is rendered probable by a variety 
of circumstances. 

It is known that ammonia exists in the sap of many 
plants ; as in the beet, birch, and maple, in w T hich it is asso- 
ciated with cane sugar ; in the leaves of tobacco, in elder 
flowers, in various fungi and in other plants. A species of 
chenopodium actually exhales ammonia from its leaves ; it 
also appears in the odorous exhalations of many other 
plants and flowers. 

Ammonia can be procured from nearly all vegetable sub- 
stances by distillation ; and many vegetable extracts are 
found to contain it. When wood is distilled in retorts for 
the manufacture of acid, ammonia is produced. 

These and other facts of similar bearing are in no wise 
proofs that ammonia is the form in which nitrogen enters 
into the substance of plants; either through the roots or the 
leaves; because there are ways in which it could be pro- 
duced in the plant by the same converting power which 
produces sugar and starch in the interior of the plant from 
carbonic acid and water; and while ammonia is easily pro- 
duced from coal and wood, yet we know that it does not 
actually exist in these substances in their natural condition. 
In the case of tobacco, the production of ammonia by means 
of a high temperature may be illustrated by a simple ex- 



EFFECT OF AMMONIA UPON VEGETATION. 89 

periment. The sap and dried leaves of this plant contain 
nitrate of potash (saltpeter) and a small quantity of am- 
monia. When the dried leaves are burned ammonia is 
given off in sensible quantities with the smoke, and can be 
detected by bringing a piece of reddened litmus paper into 
contact with the smoke when the color will be changed to 
a blue ; or by using a feather dipped into vinegar or any 
weak acid, the white cloud of carbonate of ammonia will 
appear. (Litmus paper is used for testing the presence of 
acids and alkalies. It is absorbent paper steeped in a red or 
blue vegetable coloring matter, as the juice of red cabbage, 
of the red beet, or of the berries of the poke root. Litmus 
is a red color obtained from some species of lichens, and is 
changed to blue by ammonia. An alkaline liquid or vapor 
will change the red to blue, and an acid will change the 
blue to red again. This test can be used by farmers in a 
variety of ways ; in detecting the escape of ammonia from 
manure, or acidity in milk). 

In this case however the ammonia may be in part pro- 
duced by the combustion, which decomposes the water con- 
tained in the tobacco — to the extent of 14 per cent, in its 
usual air dry condition — and thus disengages hydrogen, 
w T hich can easily combine with the nitrogen disengaged in 
the combustion of nitrate of potash present in the leaves, 
and so form ammonia. 

But there are other circumstances which tend to favor 
the belief, in a much stronger manner, that ammonia does 
enter into the circulation of plants in many cases. 

Experience has shown that plants grow most rapidly and 
luxuriantly when liberally supplied with manures con- 
taining animal substances. Dried blood ; fish scrap ; guano ; 
the dung of fowls ; decomposed urine and night soil; are all 
rich in ammonia and are the most efficacious of manures. 
The same is true of the salts of ammonia. These substances 
are used when in a state of decomposition and when the 
evolution of ammonia is in most active progress. Flowering 
plants also grow with greater luxuriance when a small 
quantity of ammonia is added to the water given to them. In 



90 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the writers garden at the present time is a bed of red cab- 
bage; through the center of which ilows a drain from the 
yard in which the manure from the horse stable is kept. On 
both sides of this drain, for about 3 feet, the red cabbages 
are blue: and their growth is far more luxuriant than that 
of other plants distant from the drain. Is not this a dis- 
tinct illustration of the fact that the ammonia from the li- 
quid manure; in which it is shown to be abundant by the 
litmus paper test ; is absorbed by the cabbages and acts up- 
on the coloring matter with its usual effect? 

In all these cases however the proof is not decisive; but 
it is quite sufficient to make it appear that the probabilities 
are all in favor of the belief that ammonia does enter into 
the tissues of plants when brought in solution in water to 
the roots and to justify us in holding this belief. But ac- 
tual proof is wanted before this can be asserted as a fact. 
The changes which occur in nature are so involved ; so in- 
tricate ; so sudden ; and so unexpected when experience is 
at fault ; that we should hesitate to found a belief upon any 
but the strongest evidence, or to base a principle, or a law 
for our guidance, upon anything but accurate and well de- 
termined knowledge. So far as the question under consid- 
eration is concerned this knowledge is wanting ; but a mass 
of observed facts tending thereto is all that we possess. 
Other soluble cornpounds of nitrogen are formed during the 
decay and oxidation of animal substances and actually ex- 
ist in the liquid manures of the stable and yards, and they 
are likely to be absorbed by the roots of plants when ap- 
plied to the soil. Thus urea, a compound of carbon, hy- 
drogen, nitrogen and oxygen, and containing about one- 
third of its weight of nitrogen, exists abundantly in urine, 
and by its decomposition produces carbonate of ammonia. 
Being very soluble this substance may enter with water in- 
to the roots of plants and be decomposed within the tissues 
and made to give up its nitrogen. The same may be ap- 
plied to other compounds of nitrogen ; so that while the fact 
that animal manures are very beneficial to the growth of 
plants, may be considered as favoring the probability that 



EFFECTS OF NITRIC ACID UPON VEGETATION. 91 

the ammonia contained in such manures enters into the 
substance of plants and yields up nitrogen to them, it must 
also be considered that a portion of the nitrogen contained 
in plants and procured from decaying animal substances, 
may be obtained from other compounds of it than ammonia, 
and in which ammonia may not exist. 

Nitric acid is invariably present in the juices of plants 
in combination with potash, soda, lime, and magnesia. 
Therefore all the evidence afforded by the facts above noted 
are also applicable to the belief that this acid is one of the 
sources, at least, from whence the nitrogen of plants is de- 
rived. This acid has been detected in tobacco, and the sun- 
flower, and in the grain of barley in the form of nitrate of 
soda. If we were therefore to infer from these facts that 
this acid really enters the roots of plants w T e might draw a 
certain conclusion. Like other compounds of nitrogen, it 
may have been formed in the interior of plants during the 
many changes there effected, and hence its presence proves 
no more in regard to a solution of the question at issue than 
the presence of ammonia. The same uncertainty would 
still exist. 

But the most recent investigations go to show that of 
all the forms in which nitrogen enters into plants, nitric 
acid is the most probable one. It exerts a powerful in- 
fluence upon growing crops of grass and grains. It changes 
the color of the leaves to an intense green in a short time ; 
and largely increases the quantity of nitrogenous matter in 
grain, as well as the yield of the crop. For instance it has 
been found that a dressing of nitrate of soda has increased 
the amount of gluten in wheat from 19 to 23* per cent, 
reducing the starch from 55 h to 49* per cent. Many other 
similar instances are recorded, all tending to show the fav- 
orable effect of nitric acid upon the growth of vegetation. 
Heretofore a still more striking instance has been given of 
similar results from the use of manures rich in ammonia. 
But recent researches of the leading investigators espec- 
ially those at the Rothampstead farm in England under 
the supervision of Sir J. B. Lawes, aided by a most efficient 



92 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

corps of assistants, have shown that there is much reason 

to believe that ammonia is oxidized and changed to nitric 
acid and in this form it is that the nitrogen enters into the 
circulation of plants. 

To sum up the conclusions in regard to this question, of 
such surpassing interest to farmers, which are presented by 
a consideration of the facts known in this connection, the 
following propositions result. 

First. — That uncombined nitrogen of the atmosphere may- 
enter into the circulation to a small extent, either in its 
natural form of a gas or in solution in water ; and this prob- 
ably does happen. But the quantity so gained by plants 
is very small and is wholly insufficient for their needs and 
only a small proportion of that wdiich vegetables actually 
contain. 

Second. — That ammonia has the power of entering into 
plants and of yielding nitrogen to them to a very large ex- 
tent and actually in excess of their necessities so that the 
normal quantity of nitrogen in the product is largely in- 
creased ; and it does appear, but is not proved, that plants 
do derive nitrogen from this source. 

Third. — That in like manner nitric acid has the power of 
entering into plants and of yielding nitrogen to them to a 
larger extent than they need to produce a normal product 
and there is reason to believe that plants do derive the 
largest portion of the nitrogen they contain from this 
source. 

Fourth. — But there is also reason to believe that ammo- 
nia is changed to nitric acid in the soil, and perhaps in the 
plants, and in this combination it is that nitrogen enters 
the roots of plants and contributes to their substance. 



THE INOEGANIC ELEMENTS OF PLANTS. 



PART SECOND. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE INORGANIC ELEMENTS OF PLANTS. 

When any vegetable substances are burned in the air, 
the whole of the organic elements disappear, and a small 
quantity of ash remains. The proportion of the substance 
which has disappeared varies from 88 to 99 per cent. This 
has all been derived from the air, and is made up of the 
four elements which have occupied our attention up to this 
point. The small remnant left after complete combustion 
constitutes the inorganic elements of plant growth. These 
are now to be studied. 

The results of recent investigations have wholly exploded 
the notions which formerly prevailed, to the effect that this 
inorganic matter was of no serious importance to the crops, 
and was a mere accidental circumstance, and might be ab- 
sent without any serious detriment to the growth of the 
plants. It was discovered in course of careful experiments 
that this ash of the plants represented exactly the various 
mineral substances which were taken from the soil, and that 
these, to the smallest proportion, were of vital necessity to 
the plants. 

The results of long continued study, finally gathered into 
systematic order, showed that on Avhatever soil a plant might 
be grown and mature its seed fully, the quantity and char- 
acter of the ash is nearly the same ; and that though grown 
on the same soil, plants of different species and character 
leave an ash entirely unlike ; the ash varying characteristic 



94 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

cally with the species. Moreover it was found that when a 
plant was grown out of the soil ; and with its roots envel- 
oped only in water; it grew with equal luxuriance as if 
grown in the soil, provided that the water held in solution 
the same mineral substances which were found in the ash of 
the same species, together with the needed quantity and 
variety of its organic elements. Thus the soil was found to 
possess functions of more importance to plant growth than 
the mere mechanical support for its roots, and really sup- 
plied to the plant a number of constituents- without which, 
or any one of which, the growth was enfeebled or wholly 
failed. Hence there was no longer any doubt that the ash 
of plants represented really essential portions of their nutri- 
ment, and the farmer then was able to understand the whole 
secret of the art of manuring ; viz ; that to grow abundant 
crops every constituent part of the plants must be present 
in the soil, or if not, they must be supplied to it in the form 
of manures or fertilizers. This discovery necessarily modi- 
fied the notions held by farmers, and regulated the prac- 
tices of agriculture in every branch. One of the most use- 
ful reforms in thought and practice was to abolish the idea 
which was prevalent among unintelligent farmers, viz, that 
books and other literature were totally useless to them, and 
that the only w T ay to become good farmers was to spend a 
life time in copying the ways and methods of older men, 
and learning from them what they knew of their art. We 
have now learned that while this is all useful, there is some- 
thing else which is pre-eminently necessary ; viz ; to study 
the laws of plant growth and with the knowledge thus 
gained from books and other sources to give careful and in- 
telligent consideration to the nature of the soil ; the princi- 
ples upon which its proper culture are based; the most 
perfect machinery for this culture; the ait of manuring; 
the nature and use of artificial fertilizers; and the produc- 
t-ion of manure, made richer in the needed elements of 
plant growth by feeding cattle. And for the purpose of 
encouraging this study and of spieading abroad the neces- 
sary information for it ; a special literature devoted to agri- 



THE FEEDING FUNCTIONS OF PLANTS. 95 

culture, consisting of books and periodical journals, sprang 
into existence, and was eagerly procured and read; and 
lastly special schools for teaching the science and art of 
farming were established jointly with farms and laboratories 
for experimental culture and chemical investigations. Thus 
step by step the art of growing farm crops became an intelli- 
gent industry, and farmers are respected in proportion to 
the importance and dignity of their vocation. 

For all this we are indebted to numerous pains-taking 
men, who with unusual self-denial, patience, and per- 
severance, have spent their lives in industrious retirement; 
heard of by few and known by less; busy in their fields 
and experimental plots, or hidden in their laboratories; 
gradually building up, fragment by fragment, the grand 
edifice of knowledge which now represents what every man 
who desires, may know of the culture of farm crops. 

One very important point of this knowledge is the fact 
that vegetables feed — that is, absorb and assimilate or build 
up their substance — upon mineral substances, as well as up- 
on the remains of vegetable matter. That while these re- 
mains in the shape of completely decomposed farm manure, 
or animal matters, contain the various inorganic compounds 
which are found in the ashes of plants, and which are 
known to be necessary to their growth, yet the same com- 
pounds drawn from a mineral origin, are equally serviceable 
as plant food. Thus, lime procured from the lime kilns; 
potash from the rocks of which it forms a part ; gypsum or 
plaster; phosphate of lime; soda in the form of salt, or as 
nitrate of soda; sulphate of magnesia; and other mineral 
substances; when finely ground, and made soluble, produce 
precisely the same results when used as fertilizers as the 
same substances in the ashes of plants, or in their decayed 
remains. They are absorbed by plants with equal facility, 
and are utilized in the same way and to the same extent, in 
forming the tissues of the plants. They are in fact plant 
food. Hence the common idea that these fertilizing sub- 
stances are stimulants only, and merely encourage the 
crops to put forth some unusual effort, so to speak, by which 



96 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

some unnatural and excessive product is yielded, is a wholly 
wrong and mistaken one. Wrong terms and ideas are in- 
jurious, notwithstanding that a name has no effect in chang- 
ing the nature of anything; for they lead to wrong prac- 
tices and grave errors in the management of the crops, and 
these cannot fail to result in loss. 

The inorganic substances upon which plants feed and 
which they extract by their roots from the soil, have been 
mentioned in a previous chapter, but they may be conven- 
iently repeated. They are lime; potash; soda; magnesia; 
sulphur and sulphuric acid; phosphoric acid; silica and 
chlorine. These, with the exception of sulphur and chlor- 
ine, which are elements, are the oxides of metals which are 
elementary substances. The first four are usually found in 
the ashes of plants combined with carbonic acid as carbon- 
ates; lime however is found ae a sulphate being combined 
with sulphuric acid in the ashes of clover and a few other 
plants. There are a few other substances of inorganic ori- 
gin which are occasionally found in plants, such as iron, 
manganese, iodine, &c. but these are evidently accidentally 
absorbed with the water in which they happen to be in sol- 
ution, and being innoxious do not interfere with the devel- 
opment of the plants, but are not strictly plant food. 

The proportion of the various mineral elements of plant 
growth varies greatly in the different species of vegetables; 
so much so as to become a leading characteristic with them. 
Thus there are what may be called potash plants; lime 
plants; soda plants, &c; and these dominant elements will 
be found to have a considerable bearing upon the question 
of fertilizing crops, to be hereafter treated. Thus on refer- 
ence to the tables given in the next chapter, it will be seen 
that the ash of the stems and leaves of potatoes contain from 
39 to 46 per cent, of lime and 16 to 22 per cent, of mag- 
nesia; pea straw cantains 38 per cent, of lime; but wheat 
straw only 6 per cent.; and the tubers of potatoes only - 1 
per cent.; while the ash of the last mentioned contains 60 
per cent, of potash; that of turnips 50 per cent., clover 35 
to 50 per cent.; of young grass 56 per cent.; and of tobacco 



THE LAWS OF PLANT GROWTH. 97 

27} per cent. The dried tobacco plant has 24 per cent, of 
ash while the whole wheat plant has but 3 1 per cent. It 
must not be supposed that these peculiarities are of no im- 
portance to the farmer, and that the fact that the ash of 
beets, turnips, and carrots, including leaves and roots to- 
gether, contains from 12 to 24 J per cent, of soda, and from 
6 to 11 per cent, of chlorine; while that of most other 
plants contain a very insignificant quantity of these sub- 
stances; or that the ash of clover contains along with the 
large quantity of lime a considerable amount of sulphuric 
acid, and that this acid exists in the ash of turnips, cabbage, 
rape and kohl-rabi, mustard and other plants of the Cru- 
ciferce family to the enormous extent of from 8 to 16 \ per 
cent. For these facts explain the reason why an applica- 
tion of salt (chloride of sodium) and of gypsum (sulphate 
of lime) furnishes these elements to the crops mentioned, and 
thus supplies necessary food without which they could not 
grow. It results, in fact, that the soil must contain all these 
substances, which are found in their ashes, in such quantity 
and in such form as to yield easily to each crop as much of 
each, as the plant specially requires. This is the first grand 
law which controls the culture of farm crops. The second 
is that the soil must be brought into such a proper condition 
by tillage, as to enable the roots of plants to avail themselves of 
the needed food which it contains. 

A special study should be made of the tables given in the 
next chapter and specially placed by themselves that they 
may attract the notice which they demand. For a third 
law controlling the growth of plants is, that if one of these 
necessary substances is limiting in the soil, or is existing there 
in deficient quantity, the crop will prove a failure; it will 
either be weak and diseased (for it is the weak and ill nour- 
ished plants — and animals equally — which are subject to 
disease) or it will fail to grow at all. 

The intelligent farmer will then naturally ask what are 
these mineral or inorganic substances upon which plants 
depend for their successful growth, and in what proportion 
do they require them; and further, in what proportions do 



98 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

these needed mineral substances exist in the soil; and when 
any of them are deficient, how can they be supplied in the 
easiest, most advantageous and most economical manner? 

The first of these questions will be answered by the tables 
given in the next chapter and the others will be considered 
in their turn. 



THE ASH, OR MINERAL PARTS OF PLANTS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE ASH OF CULTIVATED PLANTS AND ITS VARIED 

COMPOSITION. 

In the following tables collected from various sources in 
which the results of thousands of experiments by the most 
noted agricultural chemists and investigators have been 
published, will be found the average composition of the ash 
of the plants named. These plants have been gathered from 
the crops grown under ordinary circumstances, and when 
there has been any unusual variation in any samples, a 
large number of analyses have been made and an average 
taken. These analyses have been verified so often by more 
recent examinations that they have been accepted as the 
standard, and are used for all purposes, and for reference in 
all recent agricultural study. They may therefore be ac- 
cepted by students with the utmost confidence and reliance. 
They are given in full because hereafter frequent allusions 
and references will be given to them in future chapters. 

Composition of the Ash of Agricultural 
* Products. 

« . A d 1 o g-j U# * I 

Substances. 11 5 5 g -S £*§ %§ 3 3 

u * o x -J. a o -• 3 " m A 

HAY AND GRASS. 

Ordinary hay 7.78 25.6 7.0 4.9 11.6 6.2 5.1 29.6 8.0 

Youn«"gras« 9-32 56.2 1.8 2.8 10.7 10.5 4.0 10.3 2.0 

Ripe hay 7.73 7.6 2.9 3.4 12.9 4.4 0.7 63.1 5.7 

Timothy 7.1 28.8 2.7 3.7 9.4 10.8 3.9 35.6 5.0 

Hungarian 7.23 37.4 8.0 10.8 5.4 3.6 29.1 6.4 

(LOVER AND FODDER PLANTS. 

Red Clover 6.72 34.5 1.6 12.2 34.0 9.9 3.0 2.7 3.7 

White Clover 7.16 17.5 7.8 10.0 32.2 14.1 8.8 4.5 3.2 

Luct>rn 7.14 25.3 1.1 5.8 48.0 8.5 6.1 2.0 1.9 

Alsike clover 5.53 33.8 1.5 15.3 31.9 10.1 4.0 1.2 2.8 

Green pea (in flower) 7.40 40.8 0.2 8.2 28.7 13.2 3.5 2.6 1.8 

Green rape 8.97 32.3 3.8 4.5 23.1 8.7 16.3 3.2 7.6 



100 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



ROOT CROPS (Roots.) 

Potatoes 3.74 59.8 1.6 4.5 2.3 

Beets 6.8G 53.1 14.8 5.1 4.G 

Sugarbeets 4.35 49.4 9.6 8.9 6.3 

Turnips 8.28 39.3 11.4 3.9 10.4 

Rutabagas 7.68 57.2 6.7 2.6 9.7 

Carrots 6.27 36.7 22.1 5.3 10.7 

ROOT CROPS (Leaves and Stems. 

Potatoes (green) 8.92 14.5 2.7 16.8 39.0 

" (ripe) 5.12 6.3 0.8 22.6 46.2 

Beets 15.90 29.1 21.0 9.7 11.4 

Sugar beets 17.49 22.1 16.8 18.3 19.7 

Turnips 13.68 22.9 7.8 4.5 32.4 

Carrots 13.57 14.1 23.1 4.6 33.0 

Cabbage 10.81 48.6 3.9 3.3 15.3 

STRAW. 

Winter wheat 4.96 11.5 2.9 2.6 6.2 

Winter rye 4.81 1S.7 3.3 3.1 7.7 

Springrye 5.55 23.4 2.8 8.9 

Barley 5.10 21.6 4.5 2.4 7.6 

Oats 5.12 22.0 5.3 4.0 8.2 

Corn 5.49 35.3 1.2 5.5 10.5 

Peas 5.74 21.8 5.3 7.7 37.9 

Beans 7.12 44.4 3.8 7.8 23.1 

Buckwheat 6.15 46.6 2.2 3.6 18.4 

Rape 4.58 25.6 10.3 5.7 26.5 

CHAFF. 

Wheat 10.73 9.1 1.8 1.3 1.9 

Barley 14.23 7.7 0.9 1.3 10.4 

Oats 9.22 13.1 4.8 2.6 8.9 

Corn (cobs) 0.56 47.1 1.2 4.1 3.4 

FIBER PLANTS. 

Flax (entire) 4.30 34.2 4.8 9.(J 15.5 

Hemp " 4.60 18.3 3.2 9.6 43.4 

Hops " 9.87 26.2 3.8 5.8 16.0 

Tobacco 24.08 27.4 3.7 10.5 37.0 

LITTER. 

Heath 4.51 13.2 5.3 8.4 18.8 

Fern 7.1 42.8 4.5 7.7 14.0 

Sea-weeds 14.39 14.5 24.0 9.5 13.9 

Beech leaves 6.75 5.2 0.6 6.0 44.9 

Oak " 4.90 3.5 0.6 4.0 48.6 

White pine " 1.40 10.1 9.9 41.4 

Red pine " 5.82 1.5 2.3 15.2 

Salt black grass 5.30 36.6 6.6 6.4 9.5 

Salt marsh grass 8.08 33.2 7.3 4.2 5.3 

GRAINS AND SEEDS. 

Wheat 2.07 31.1 3.5 12.2 3.1 

Rye 2.03 30.9 1.8 10.9 2.7 

Barley 2.55 21.9 2.8 8.3 2.5 

Oats 3.07 15.9 3.8 7.3 3.8 

Corn 1.42 27.0 1.5 14.6 2.7 



19.1 


6.6 


2.3 


2.8 


9.6 


3.3 


3.3 


6.6 


14.3 


4.7 


3.5 


2.0 


13.3 


14.3 


2.4 


4.1 


15.3 


8.4 


0.5 


5.1 


12.5 


6.4 


2.0 


3.2 


) 








6.1 


5.6 


8.0 


4.6 


5.5 


5.5 


4.2 


3.0 


5.1 


7.4 


4.8 


11.3 


7.4 


8.0 


3.1 


5.7 


8.9 


9.9 


3.8 


8.2 


4.7 


7.9 


5.6 


7.1 


15.8 


8.5 


1.2 


2.5 


5.4 


2.9 


66.3 




4.7 


1.9 


58.1 




6.5 


2.6 


55.9 




4.3 


3,7 


53.8 




4.2 


3.5 


48.7 




8.1 


5.2 


38.0 




7.8 


5.6 


5.7 


6.1 


7.0 


0.2 


5.4 


13.1 


11.9 


5.3 


5.5 


7.7 


7.0 


7.1 


6.7 


12.4 


4.3 




81.2 




2.0 


3.0 


70.8 




0.3 


2.5 


59.9 




4.4 


1.9 


26.4 




23.0 


4.9 


2.6 


5.9 


11.6 


2.8 


7.6 


2.5 


12.1 


5.4 


2.5 


4.6 


3.6 


3.9 


9.6 


4.5 


5.1 


4.4 


35.2 


2.1 


9.7 


5.1 


6.1 


10.2 


3.1 


24.0 


1.7 


10.1 


4.2 


3.7 


33.9 


0.4 


8.1 


4.4 


30.9 




16.4 


4.4 


13.1 


4.4 


8.2 


2.8 


70.1 




6.4 


8.7 


10.9 


14.2 


6.7 


3.3 


31.5 


5.6 


46.2 


2.4 


1.7 




47.5 


2.3 


1.5 




32.8 


2.3 


27.2 




20.7 


1.6 


46.4 




44.7 


1.1 


2.2 





COMPOSITION OF FARM CROPS. 101 

Rice 7.84 18.4 4.5 8.6 5.1 47.2 0.6 0.6 

Millet 4.49 11.9 1.0 8.4 1.0 23.4 0.2 52.3 

Sorghum 1.86 23.0 3.3 14.8 1.3 50.9 7.5 

Buckwheat 1.07 23.1 6.2 13.4 3.3 48.0 2.1 1.7 

Rape 4.24 23.5 1.1 12.2 13.8 43.9 3.6 1.1 0.3 

Cotton 7.80 37.42 8.6 16.10 3.0 33.16 0.27 2.8 0.2 

Flax 3.65 32.2 1.8 13.2 8.4 40.4 1.1 1.1 0.1 

Hemp 5.48 20.1 0.8 5.6 23.5 36.3 0.2 11.8 0.1 

Mustard 4.30 15.9 5.8 10.2 18.8 39.0 4.7 2.4 0.4 

Turnip 3.98 21.9 1.2 8.7 17.4 40.2 7.1 0.7 

Carrot 8.50 19.1 4.8 6.7 88.8 15.8 5.6 5.3 3.3 

Peas 2.81 40.4 3.7 8.0 4.2 36.3 3.5 0.9 2.3 

Beans 3.45 40.5 1.2 6.7 5.2 39.2 5.1 1.2 2.9 

Clover 4.11 37.3 0.6 12.2 6.2 33.5 4.7 2.4 1.3 

WOOD. 

Grape 2.75 29.8 6.7 6.8 37.3 12.9 2.7 0.8 0.8 

Birch 0.31 11.6 5.8 8.9 60.0 8.5 0.3 4.8 0.6 

Beech 0.82 16.1 2.7 14.0 50.2 8.0 1.0 5.4 0.1 

Oak 0.21 10.0 3.6 4.8 73.5 5.5 1.4 1.1 0.2 

Willow 0.45 11.5 5.6 10.1 50.8 16.4 3.1 0.7 0.6 

Elm 1.88 24.1 2.1 10.0 37.9 9.6 5.4 6.2 6.7 

Linden 1.42 35.8 6.0 4.2 29.9 4.9 5.3 5.3 1.5 

Apple 1.29 12.0 1.6 5.7 71.0 4.6 2.9 1.8 0.2 

Red pine 0.25 5.2 26.8 6.2 47.9 5.1 3.0 2.0 4.0 

White pine 0.28 15.3 9.9 5.9 50.1 5.5 3.0 6.0 0.2 

Balsam fir 0.31 11.8 4.6 9.1 50.1 5.8 2.3 15.0 0.4 

Larch (Tamarac) 0.32 15.3 7.7 24.5 27.1 3.6 1.7 3.6 0.6 

. LEAVES OF TREES. 

Walnut 7.01 26.6 9.8 53.7 4.0 2.7 2.0 0.8 

Beech 6.75 5.2 0.6 6.0 44.9 4.2 3.7 33.9 0.4 

Oak 4.90 3.5 0.6 4.0 48.6 8.1 4.4 30.9 

Fir (Balsam) 1.40 10.1 9.9 41.4 16.4 4.4 13.1 4.4 

Red pine 5.82 1.5 2.3 15.2 8.2 2.8 70.1 

White pine 6.24 3.7 1.1 12.1 8.5 1.9 66.6 

Maple 6.S0 10.2 0.5 6.1 39.6 4.2 3.6 34.0 

Elm 4.88 13.7 0.6 4.1 48.5 8.0 4.3 20.8 

BARK. 

Oak 3.21 5.7 3.2 8.7 42.0 7.1 1.5 21.0 1.5 

Maple 1.37 15.0 3.1 9.0 45.1 6.7 1.4 11.0 

Birch 1.33 3.8 5.4 8.2 45.6 7.3 1.3 20.1 1,3 

Beech 14.7 0.4 0.2 57.9 0.4 1.3 18.0 

Walnut 6.40 11.6 10.6 70.1 5.9 0.2 0.7 0.4 

Elm 7.1 2.2 10.1 3.2 72.7 1.6 0.6 8.9 

Linden 8.5- 16.1 5.7 8.0 60.8 4.0 0.8 2.3 1.2 

Red pine 2.81 5.3 4.2 4.7 62.4 2.6 1.0 15.7 0.2 

White pine 3.30 8.0 3.2 3.0 69.8 2.5 1.6 8.4 1.0 

Fir (Balsam) 2.01 3.0 1.0 1.4 43.7 8.3 0.8 31.1 0.1 

Although the consideration of the organic substance of 
plants has been passed for the present, yet this being a con- 
venient place for a table showing the amount of organic 
matter contained in the common products of the farm, this 



102 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



is given here and will be frequently referred to hereafter. 
The organic matter is separated from the ash, and water, 
which are also given, and into two principal divisions, viz: 
that into which nitrogen chiefly enters, and which are com- 
monly referred to as nitrogenous matter; or albuminoids or 
protein compounds; and that commonly called carbo-hy- 
drates; the former consisting of carbon; oxygen; hydrogen 
and nitrogen ; and the latter of carbon, oxygen and hydro- 
gen. These are often distinguished also as non-nitrogen- 
ous. 

Composition of Agricultural Products. 



hay. 

Meadow Hay, poor 14.3 

better 14.3 

" " medium 14.3 

" " very good 15.0 

" " extra....: 16.0 

Red Clover, poor .'. 15.0 

" " medium 16.0 

" " very good 16.5 

extra 16.5 

White Clover, medium 16.5 

Lucerne, medium 16.0 

" verygood 16.5 

Swedish Clover 16.0 

Hop Clover , 16.7 

Trefoil 16.7 

Seradella 16.7 

Fodder Vetch, medium 16.7 

" " verygood 16.7 

Peas in bloom 16.7 

Lupine, medium 16.7 

" very good 16.7 

Fodder Rye 14.3 

Timothy 14.3 

Italian Rye Grass 14.3 

English Rye Grass 14.3 

French Rye Grass 14.3 

Upland Grasses, average 14.3 

Hungarian Grass 18.4 





m 

o o 

si 


Carbon & Hydro- 
gen compounds. 


CO 

< 


o 
JO 


oi ■ 
09 


"3 


5.0 


7.5 


33.5 


38.2 


1.5 


5.4 


9.2 


29.2 


39.7 


2.0 


6.2 


9.7 


26.3 


41.4 


2.5 


7.0 


11.7 


21.9 


41.6 


2.8 


7.7 


13.5 


19.3 


40.4 


3.0 


5.1 


11.1 


28.9 


37.7 


2.1 


5.3 


12.3 


26.0 


38.2 


2.2 


6.0 


13.5 


24.0 


37.1 


2.9 


7.0 


15.3 


22.2 


35.8 


3.2 


6.0 


14.5 


25.6 


33.9 


3.5 


6.2 


14.4 


33.0 


27.9 


2.5 


6.8 


16.0 


26.6 


31.6 


2.5 


6.0 


15.0 


27.0 


32.7 


3.3 


6.0 


14.6 


26.2 


33.2 


*3 


5.1 


12.2 


30.4 


32.6 


3.0 


7.5 


13.5 


22.0 


35.6 


4.7 


8.3 


14.2 


25.5 


32.8 


2.5 


9.3 


19.8 


23.4 


28.5 


2.3 


7.0 


14.3 


25.2 


34.2 


2.6 


4.6 


17.1 


28.5 


30.9 


2.2 


4.1 


23.2 


25.2 


28.6 


2:2 


5.1 


10.4 


23.1 


44.5 


2.8 


4.5 


9.7 


22.7 


45.8 


3.0 


7.S 


11.2 


22.9 


40.6 


3.2 


6.5 


10.2 


30.2 


36.1 


2.7 


9.9 


11.2 


29.4 


32.6 


2.7 


5.8 


9.5 


2S.7 


39.1 


2.6 


5.7 


10.8 


29.4 


38.5 


2.2 



COMPOSITION OF FODDER PLANTS. 103 

GREEN FODDER. 

Grass just before bloom 75.0 

Pasture Grass 80.0 

Rich PastureGrass 78.2 

Italian Rye Grass 73.4 

English. Rye Grass 70.0 

Timothy Grass 70.0 

Upland Grasses, average 70.0 

Fodder Rye 76.0 

Fodder Oats 81.0 

Green Maize, American 85.0 

" German 83.0 

Sorghum 77.3 

Hungarian, in blossom 75.0 

Pasture Clover, young 83.0 

Red Clover, before blossom 83.0 

" " in full blossom 80.4 

White Clover, in blossom 80.5 

Swedish Clover, at beginning of blossom 85.0 

in full blossom 82.0 

Lucerne, quite young 81.0 

" at beginning of blossom 74.0 

Sand Lucerne, at beginning of blossom 78.0 

Esparsette 80.0 

Trefoil 81.5 

Hop Clover 80.0 

Seradella 80.0 

Lupine, medium 85.0 

" very good 85.0 

Field Beans at beginning of blossom 87.3 

Fodder vetch at beginning of blossom 82.0 

Fodder Peas in blossom 81.5 

Buckwheat in blossom 85.0 

Green Rape 87.0 

Fodder Cabbage 84.7 

White Cabbage 89.0 

Cabbage Stems 82.0 

Potato Tops, October 78.0 

Carrot leaves 82.2 

Fodder Beet leaves 90.5 

Rutabaga leaves 88.4 

Kohl-rabi leaves 85.0 

Artichoke Tops 80.0 

Fermented hay from Maize 83.5 

« " " Lupine 79.9 

" " " Beet leaves 80.0 

" " " Potato Tops 77.0 

Red Clover 79.2 

STRAW. 

Winter Wheat 14.3 

Winter Rye 14-3 

Winter Barley 14.3 

Summer Barley 14-3 

Oat 14- 3 



3.1 


3.0 


6.0 


13.1 


0.8 


2.0 


3.5 


4.0 


9.7 


0.8 


2.2 


4.5 


4.0 


10.1 


1.0 


2.8 


3.6 


7.1 


12.1 


1.0 


2.0 


3.6 


10.6 


12.8 


1.0 


2.2 


3.4 


8.0 


16.3 


1.1 


2.1 


3.4 


10.1 


13.4 


1.0 


1.6 


3.3 


7.9 


10.4 


0.8 


1.4 


2.3 


6.5 


8.3 


0.5 


1.0 


1.2 


4.7 


7.6 


0.5 


1.0 


1.8 


4.4 


9.3 


0.5 


1.1 


2.5 


6.7 


11.7 


0.7 


1.8 


3.1 


8.5 


10.9 


0.7 


1.5 


4.6 


2.8 


7.2 


0.9 


1.5 


3.3 


4.5 


7.0 


0.7 


1.3 


3.0 


5.8 


8.9 


0.6 


2.0 


3.5 


6.0 


7.2 


0.8 


1.5 


3.3 


4.5 


5.1 


0.6 


1.8 


3.3 


6.0 


6.3 


0.6 


1.7 


4.5 


5.0 


7.2 


0.6 


2.0 


4.5 


9.5 


9.2 


0.8 


1.9 


4.0 


8.0 


7.3 


0.8 


1.5 


3.2 


6.5 


8.2 


0.6 


1.6 


2.7 


6.2 


7.3 


0.7 


1.5 


3.5 


6.0 


8.2 


0.8 


1.8 


3.0 


5.2 


8.9 


1.1 


0.7 


3.1 


5.1 


5.7 


0.4 


0.7 


4.2 


4.5 


5.2 


0.4 


1.0 


2.8 


3.5 


5.1 


0.3 


1.8 


3.5 


5.5 


6.6 


0.6 


1.5 


3.2 


5.6 


7.6 


0.6 


1.4 


2.4 


4.2 


6.4 


0.6 


1.6 


2.9 


4.2 


3.7 


0.6 


1.6 


2.5 


2.4 


8.1 


0.7 


1.2 


1.5 


2.0 


5.9 


0.4 


1.9 


1.1 


2.8 


11.9 


0.3 


3.0 


2.3 


6.0 


9.7 


1.0 


3.6 


3.2 


3.0 


7.1 


1.0 


1.8 


1.9 


1.3 


4.0 


0.5 


2.3 


2.1 


1.6 


5.2 


0.5 


1.8 


2.8 


1.4 


8.2 


0.8 


2.7 


3.3 


3.4 


9.8 


0.8 


1.1 


1.2 


5.3 


8.0 


0.9 


2.9 


3.1 


6.8 


6.5 


0.8 


4.1 


3.0 


2.7 


9.0 


1.2 


5.3 


2.9 


4.7 


7.5 


2.6 


2.1 


4.2 


5.9 


6.4 


2.2 


4.6 


3.0 


40.0 


36.9 


1.2 


4.1 


3.0 


44-0 


33.3 


1.3 


5.5 


3.3 


43.0 


32.5 


1.4 


4.1 


3.5 


40.0 


36.7 


1.4 


4.0 


4.0 


39.5 


36.2 


2.0 



104 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

Summer Grain Straws medium 14.3 4.1 

" very good 143 6.7 

Winter " " medium 14.:'. 4.8 

it very good 14.3 5.3 

Fodder Vetch 16.0 4.5 

Pea 16.0 4.5 

Field Bean 16.0 4.6 

Straw of Legumes, medium 16.0 4.5 

" " " verygood 16.0 5.1 

Lentils 16.0 6.5 

Lupine 16.0 4.1 

Seed Clover 16.0 5.6 

Rape 16.0 4.1 

Corn Stalks 15.0 4.2 

CHAFF.. HULLS, ETC. 

Wheat 14.3 9.2 

Rye 14.3 T."> 

Oats 14.3 10.0 

Barley 14.3 13.0 

Vetch 15.0 8.0 

Pea 15.0 6.0 

Bean 15.0 5.5 

Lupine 14.3 3.5 

Rape 14.0 8.5 

Corn Cobs 14.0 2.8 

ROOTS AND TUBERS. 

Potatoes 75.0 0.9 

Artichokes 80.0 1.0 

Fodder Beets 88.0 0.8 

Sugar Beets 81.5 0.7 

Carrots 85.0 0.9 

Giant Carrots . 87.0 0.8 

Rutabagas ! 87.0 1.0 

Turnips 92.0 0.7 

Parsnips 88.3 0.7 

GRAINS AND FRUITS. 

Wheat 14.4 1.7 

Rye 14.3 1.8 

Barley 14.3 2.2 

Oats 14.3 2.7 

Maize 14.4 1.5 

Millet 14.0 3.0 

Buckwheat 14.0 1.8 

Rice, hulled 14.0 0.5 

Peas 14.3 2.4 

Field Bean. 14.5 3.1 

Vetch..; 14.3 2.7 

Lentil 14.5 3.0 

Lupine yellow 13.3 3.8 

" blue 13.2 3.2 

Linseed 12.3 3.4 

Rape Seed 11.8 3.9 

nemp Seed 12.2 4.5 

Cotton Seed 7.7 7.8 

Acorns 37.7 1.6 



3.8 


39.7 


3.4 


1.7 


6.9 


36.7 


32.9 


2.5 


3.0 


42.0 


34.9 


1.3 


4.5 


37.8 


36.7 


1.4 


7.5 


12.0 


29.0 


1.0 


6.5 


38.0 


34.0 


1.0 


10.2 


34.0 


34.2 


1.0 


8.1 


38.0 


32.4 


1.0 


10.2 


34.5 


33.2 


1.0 


14.0 


33.6 


27.9 


2.0 


5.9 


40.8 


32.1 


1.1 


9.4 


42.0 


25.0 


2.0 


3.5 


40.0 


35. 4 


1.0 


3.0 


40.0 


36.7 


1.0 


4.3 


36.0 


34.6 


1.4 


3.6 


43.5 


29.9 


1.2 


4.0 


34.0 


36.2 


1.5 


3.0 


30.0 


38.2 


1.5 


8.5 


33.0 


33.5 


2.0 


8.1 


32.0 


36.9 


2.0 


10.5 


33.0 


34.0 


2.0 


4.5 


37.0 


39.0 


1.7 


4.0 


40.6 


31.3 


1.6 


1.4 


37.8 


42.6 


1.4 


2.1 


1.1 


20.7 


0.2 


2.0 


1.3 


15.5 


0.2 


1.1 


0.9 


9.1 


0.1 


1.0 


1.3 


15.4 


0.1 


1.4 


1.7 


10.8 


0.2 


1.2 


1.2 


9.6 


0.2 


1.3 


1.1 


9.5 


0.1 


1.1 


0.8 


5.3 


0.1 


1.6 


1.0 


10.2 


0.2 


13.0 


3.0 


66.4 


1.5 


11.0 


3.5 


67.4 


2.0 


10.0 


7.1 


63.9 


2.5 


12.0 


9.3 


55.7 


6.0 


10.0 


5.5 


62.1 


6.5 


12.7 


9.5 


57.5 


3.3 


9.0 


15.0 


58.7 


1.5 


7.7 


2.2 


75.2 


0.4 


22.4 


6.4 


52.5 


2.0 


25.5 


9.4 


45.9 


1.6 


27. n 


6.7 


45.8 


3.0 


23.8 


6.9 


49.2 


2.6 


36.2 


13.8 


28.0 


4.9 


24.8 


12.5 


41.7 


4.6 


20.5 


7.2 


19.6 


37.0 


19.4 


10.3 


12.1 


42.5 


16.3 


12.2 


21.3 


33.6 


22. S 


16.0 


15.4 


30.3 


3.5 


7.8 


46.6 


2.8 



DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUNG AND MATURE PLANTS. 105 

Chestnuts 49.2 1.6 4.3 2.0 41.3 1.6 

Apples and Pears 83.1 0.4 0.3 4.3 11.8 

Pumpkins 89.1 1.0 0.6 2.7 6.5 0.1 

FEEDING SUBSTANCES. 

Brewers Grains 76.6 1.2 4.9 5.2 11.0 1.1 

Malt Sprouts 10.1 7.2 24.3 14.3 42.1 2.1 

Wheat Bran, fine 13.1 5.4 14.0 8.7 55.0 3.8 

•' " coarse 12.9 6.6 15.0 10.1 52.2 3.2 

Rye Bran 12.5 5.2 14.5 5.7 58.6 4.5 

Pea Bran 12.3 3.0 8.0 43.7 30.5 2.5 

Linseed Meal, new process 9.7 7.3 33.2 8.8 38.7 2.3 

Cotton Seed, whole meal 11.3 6.4 23.6 22.0 30.5 6.1 

Cotton Seed Meal, without hulls 11.2 7.6 38.8 9.2 19.5 13.7 

The above figures show precisely what inorganic, or min- 
eral substances, plants draw from the soil. They also show 
that the quantity of inorganic matter contained in the same 
weight of different crops varies greatly. Thus while the 
grain of corn contains only 1.42 per cent, of inorganic mat- 
ter; peas contain twice as much; oats two and a half times 
as much; and rice five and a half times as much. Also the 
quantity contained in the various parts of the same plant 
varies in a similar manner. Wheat grain has but 2.07 per 
cent of ash but the straw has more than twice as much 
and the chaff has over five times as much. Barley shows a 
still greater difference in tins way and so on through the 
whole tables. The same facts apply to trees and their bark 
and leaves. 

Another important point is peculiarly worthy of notice; 
this is the difference between plants in an early stage of 
growth and when they are mature. Young grass for in- 
stance contains considerably more ash than ripe hay and 
this ash consists of much more important elements of vege- 
table growth. The large quantity of potash and phosphoric 
acid shown to be needed by such grass as is used for pastur- 
ing, seems to disappear as it grows older and to be replaced 
by silica. What becomes of these two substances, so valua- 
ble and indispensable in the aliment of animals, and which 
gives to the young stock the materials for building up their 
growing muscles and bones ; and how is it that the mature 
grass has so large a quantity of silica which is of no use as 
aliment to animals? But we see a purpose in this, although 
it operates to the disadvantage of the farmer. The first law 



106 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

of nature is the survival of all living things, and the most 
perfect fulfillment of its purpose in creation. And we see 
an instance of the perfect order and wise adaptation of 
means to ends in nature, in this excess of silica in the stem 
of a ripe herb, for it requires stiffness and strength to enable 
it to hold up the seed until it ripens. Were it not for this 
silica in ripe hay and the straw of the grains, the stems 
would not have strength enough to stand upright and 
would fall and rot on the ground and the seed would 
perish. 

These variations are not accidental, for they exist every- 
where, on all soils and in all climates. They must there- 
fore originate in some natural and universal law. That 
they are so, inures to the advantage of the farmer and 
makes agriculture possible. For otherwise, there would be 
no certainty that after he had prepared the soil and had 
sown his seed, he would reap the crop he desired ; or that 
what his land produced would suit the purpose for which 
he intended it, either for the subsistence of mankind or for 
feeding his animals. But being based upon a universal 
law, the farmer has a safe and constant rule for his guid- 
ance, and may be able to furnish his crops with precisely 
what they need, when he has by long use lessened the orig- 
inal fertility of the soil to the point of impoverishment. 

Moreover by this law the farmer can find a reason why 
various trees preponderate in the forest and learn from it 
sufficient of the character of the land under the surface soil 
to guide him in the choice of a farm. When he sees the land 
covered with plants of the heath family, the huckleberry; 
cranberry; &c: or with a forest of balsam fir; or with 
birch or beech timber; he can as safely judge that the soil 
is light and sandy, as if it were all exposed to view; and 
on the other hand where oaks, elms, maples and basswood 
flourish and grow to a large size, he may be sure that the 
land is rich in potash, lime, and phosphoric acid; the most 
important elements of plant food ; and that with judicious 
cultivation of such soil his labor will be rewarded with, 
abundant crops. 



INORGANIC ELEMENTS OF PLANTS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE COMPOUNDS OF THE INORGANIC ELEMENTS 

OF PLANTS. 

The inorganic elements of plants, viz. potash; soda^ 
magnesia; lime; phosphoric acid; sulphuric acid; silica 
and chlorine, exist in combination; and never in their 
original elementary condition as simple substances. It has 
been shown that the organic substance of plants contains 
four elementary substances ; oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and 
nitrogen in various proportions; and that the inorganic 
part of them is made up of eight elements ; mentioned in a 
previous chapter ; and rarely of a very small portion of a 
few others chiefly, aluminium, iron and manganese. These 
eight elements are chiefly in combination as shown in the 
following enumeration of them. 



Name 


In combination with 


Forming 


Potassium 


Oxygen 


Potash 


(< 


Chlorine 


Chloride of Potassium 


Sodium 


Oxygen 


Soda 


<< 


Chlorine 


Salt 


Magnesium 


Oxygen 


Magnesia 


Calcium 


Oxygen 


Lime 


Phosphorus 


Oxygen 


Phosphoric acid 


Sulphur 


Oxygen 


Sulphuric acid 


Silicon 


Oxygen 


Silica 


Chlorine 


Metals 


Chlorides 



With the exception of sulphur these elementary bodies 
are not known to exist on the surface of the globe in their 
simple uncombined state, but in combination as above men- 
tioned they form the greater part of the mass of the earth 
and of the soil upon its surface. It is these combinations 
wdiich are of interest to the farmer in his study of the prin- 
ciples and laws of vegetable growth. 

POTASSIUM AND ITS COMPOUNDS. 

Potassium is of most importance in its form of 
Carbonate of Potash, 



108 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

a combination of potash with carbonic acid. This is the 
form in which potash exists in wood ashes ; and in the pot- 
ash and pearl ash of commerce. It lias a most important 
influence upon the growth of plants, as may be seen by 
reference to the tables in the previous chapter. Its use 
for this purpose as a fertilizer dates back to the time of the 
ancient Hebrews, Egyptians, and Romans, and the value 
of wood ashes as a fertilizer has been mentioned by several 
of the ancient writers. Moreover it is well known that 
wood ashes are more favorable to some plants than to oth- 
ers, "bringing in," as it is termed, plants like the clovers 
which are rich in potash, and so crowding out useless weeds, 
and improving the land at the same time. 

Potash is extremely caustic, destroying all vegetable and 
animal matter very rapidly. It is easily produced as fol- 
lows. 12 parts by weight of carbonate of potash are dissolv- 
ed in water and boiled with half the weight of newly 
burned (or quick or caustic) lime slaked in water, the lime 
takes the carbonic acid from the potash and settles to the 
bottom, leaving the potash in solution in a caustic state. 
Caustic potash so readily absorbs water, from the atmos- 
phere, that it can only be kept dry with difficulty. It is 
not known that potash in this form is of any service in the 
growth of plants, but it is thought possible, because of the 
action of lime upon the carbonate ; and when lime is ap- 
plied to the soil, as it frequently is, it is quite possible that 
it may exert this effect upon the soluble carbonate of pot- 
ash with which it comes in contact. 

Potassium, may be obtained by mixing the dry caustic 
potash, procured by evaporating the solution above de- 
scribed to dryness, with powdered charcoal and iron filings, 
and submitting the mass to intense heat in a closed retort. 
The potash is decomposed; its oxygen combines with the 
iron, and the metal potassium is left pure in the form of a 
vapor which is distilled over and appears, on cooling, in 
the form of white silvery drops. This process was one of 
the remarkable discoveries of Sir Humphrey Davy to whom 
we are indebted for much that is known of agricultural 



POTASH COMPOUNDS. 109 

science. This metal can be kept only in some liquid which, 
contains no oxygen, hence it is immersed for keeping in 
pure turpentine, or in naphtha, which are compounds of 
carbon and hydrogen. When exposed to the air it is quick- 
ly oxidized ; when it is thrown upon water, it floats and ab- 
sorbs oxygen from this fluid, so rapidly that it takes fire 
and burns. A curious experiment in this direction may 
be made by placing a small piece of the metal upon ice, 
when it at once inflames by combining with the oxygen of 
the ice. Hydrogen gas is of course liberated in the decom- 
position of the water. The oxide of potassium thus formed 
is caustic potash, and weighs one-fifth more than the potas- 
sium; the increase being due to the oxygen combined. 

Chloride of Potassium, is very useful as a fertilizer, 
furnishing to plants not only potash, but chlorine. It ex- 
ists in sea water along with common salt ; it is found mixed 
with salt in the salt mines and is extracted in large quan- 
tities from the salt mines of Germany, from whence it is 
brought as "muriate" (chloride) of potash to this country 
and sold as German potash salts. It consists of potassium 
combined with chlorine. It can be easily produced by dis- 
solving pearl ash in hydro-chloric acid, until effervescence 
ceases and evaporating to dryness. It is extensively used 
in the manufacture of alum which is a double sulphate of 
alumina and potash. This salt of potash is found in the 
ash of nearly all plants, and in large quantities in sea weeds; 
salt marsh grasses ; and sedges. 

Sulphate of Potash, consists of potash and sulphuric 
acid and is a most useful and cheap form from which pot- 
ash may be furnished to the crops. It may be formed by 
dissolving the carbonate of potash in sulphuric acid until 
gas (carbonic acid) is no longer given off, and evaporating 
the solution. It exists in considerable quantities in wood 
ashes, and in the ashes of plants; and forms 18 per cent, of 
the weight of common alum. This salt has been found to 
act beneficially upon clovers; peas; beans ; cabbages ; tur- 
nips ; rape and other plants : all of which will be found, 
on reference to the preceding tables to contain both potask 



110 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

and sulphuric acid in notable amounts. Hence the favor- 
able result of its use as a fertilizer for these crops. 

Nitrate of Potash or saltpeter is a well known sub- 
stance and consists of potash and nitric acid, and can be 
formed by dissolving pearl ash (carbonate of potash) in 
nitric acid and evaporating. It exists in large beds in 
South America and is generally diffused in the soil in small 
quantities, being produced wherever potash and decaying 
vegetable matter happen to be in conjunction in the soil, 
by the action of the nitrifying organism which exists in the 
soil and is supposed to aid in the production of nitric acid. 
This salt exerts a most remarkable effect upon plants; con- 
taining as it does two of the most important elements of 
plant growth and being extremely soluble. As little as 50 
lbs. per acre, applied when the soil was damp has exerted 
a marked effect upon the vegetation in the course of a sin- 
gle night. 

Oxalate of Potash. — Oxalic acid has not been men- 
tioned heretofore, but it deserves a passing notice here be- 
cause it exists in many plants which are known by their 
agreeable acidity. Sorrel, and the common garden rhu- 
barb, owe their sourness to this acid ; it is also found in the 
chick pea; several varieties of the rumex family (to which 
rhubarb belongs) as the docks; also in tormentilla; bistort; 
gentian ; saponaria ; and many others. Lichens and va- 
rious mosses also contain this acid in combination with lime 
and soda. It is also noteworthy because it is closely akin 
to carbonic acid, being a derivative from the element car- 
bon, consisting of two parts of carbon and three of oxygen, 
and can be easily formed in a plant by the addition of one 
equivalent of carbonic oxide (C. O.) to one of carbonic ac- 
id (C. Oo); forming together (C2 O3) oxalic acid. This acid 
is very readily changed to carbonic acid by heat: thus 
when oxalate of potash is heated in a capsule over a lamp, 
it is decomposed and carbonic acid is left. It has been 
supposed that this salt of potash exists freely in plants and 
trees, and that this change occurs in their combustion, and 
the formation of the ashes. It may therefore perform an 



SODA COMPOUNDS. Ill 

important part in the changes which occur in the interior 
of plants, although its direct agency in this direction has 
not hitherto been distinctly understood. 

Tartrates and Citrates of Potash, exist in many 
fruits; the citrates abound in the citrus class of fruits, 
oranges, lemons, shaddocks, and limes ; and the tartrates 
in grapes. These salts are easily decomposed by heat as 
the oxalate of potash is, leaving carbonate of potash. Few 
experiments have been made in regard to these compounds 
of potash ; probably because of the slight difference between 
them and the carbonate and the ease with which they can 
be interchanged in the process of growth of plants. 

SODIUM AND ITS COMPOUNDS. 

Sodium is never found uncombined and of necessity has 
no relation to vegetation. It is of some interest however 
a,s being the base of various compounds which are inti- 
mately connected with the growth of plants. Like potas- 
sium it is a soft silvery white metal, light enough to float 
upon water, and like it will oxidize and burn on contact 
with this fluid. It is produced from soda in precisely the 
same manner. Its compounds are first 

Chloride of Sodium, or common salt. This substance 
is universally diffused. It forms 2f per cent, of the weight 
of the ocean and is found more or loss in all soils ; it also 
exists as a rock in enormous beds among the strata of the 
earth's crust, some of these being considerably over a thou- 
sand feet in thickness. It forms a portion of the substance 
of all plants and animals, and hence is of great interest to 
farmers, as being a most important manure for crops ; for 
which purpose it has been used from the earliest ages. It 
consists of sodium and chlorine. It is so well known that 
its properties need no further consideration at this time. 

Soda, is the oxide of sodium, and resembles very strongly 
the corresponding oxide of potassium ; although its proper- 
ties are not so strongly marked. It is extremely caustic 
and absorbs moisture from the air. The sodium compounds 
seem to be everywhere diffused, being found everywhere, 



112 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

and even in the particles of atmospheric dust, But although 
their presence is universal, they possess a less marked im- 
portance in vegetable growth than the potash compounds ; 
appearing in much less quantity in the ashes of plants. 
With the exception of salt, none of these compounds are 
used in agriculture, excepting incidentally as impurities in 
the more costly potash fertilizers. These consist of sulphate 
of soda and chloride of sodium chiefly, and are mingled to 
a considerable extent with magnesia salts in the so called 
German potash salts from the Strassfurth salt mines. 

The universal diffusion of these compounds in nature sup- 
plies all the needs of the farmer for the growth of his crops, 
and if any one is thought necessary, salt w T ill serve every pur- 
pose. This will be considered at greater length when the 
subject of manures is under consideration. 

CALCIUM AND ITS COMPOUNDS. 

Calcium, like the preceding two metals is silver white in 
color, and by its union with oxygen forms lime. It is not 
known to exist in an uncombined state in nature and there- 
fore has no direct action upon vegetation. 

Lime, is the oxide of calcium, and has so very great an 
affinity for water and for carbonic acid that it only remains 
in its pure state a short time. It is prepared from the com- 
mon limestone, the crystallized form of which is known as 
marble, by burning it in a kiln. The carbonic acid is driv- 
en off in the combustion, leaving the lime in a caustic con- 
dition, or as it is termed quick lime, and loses 44 per cent, 
of its weight in the burning. 

Lime, is by far the most important mineral constituent 
of plants and forms the greater part of the ash of the major- 
ity of them. Its relation to plant growth, and its action in 
many ways upon the soil, gives it a high position in the es- 
timation of farmers, both as a direct fertilizer, and an indi- 
rect aid in the preparation of the soil for the growth of crops. 
It has an exceedingly destructive action upon all organic 
matter, quickly decomposing it and reducing it to its origi- 
nal elements, and preparing it for plant food. It has also 



LIME COMPOUNDS. 113 

a solvent action upon silica, decomposing combinations of 
it with potash, and soda, and forming silicates of these sub- 
stances which are soluble ; thus forming a most important 
addition to the plant food in the soil. It gradually absorbs 
carbonic acid from the air, and from any decomposing or- 
ganic matter brought into contact with it, and thus slowly 
returns to its condition of a carbonate of lime, in which it 
is inert, excepting when it is dissolved in water. Its many 
valuable properties will be more fully detailed in the chap- 
ter on manures. 

Chloride of Calcium, is the well known chloride of 
lime, of daily use as a disinfectant. It has no important 
relation to plant growth although it has a most useful effect 
in various ways in purifying the air about farm build- 
ings, manure yards and drains. 

Sulphate of Lime or gypsum, is an exceedingly val- 
uable compound of lime and deserves special study. It is 
composed of 32 •> parts of lime, 46 i of sulphuric acid, and 
21 of water; the water existing as water of crystallization 
which is driven off when the gypsum is exposed to a heat of 
300 degrees. This substance is a translucent, yellowish or 
white, soft, rock ; which is easily ground into a fine powder. 
It is inert and exercises no action upon other substances, 
but is easily decomposed when its constituents enter into 
other combinations, as will be hereafter described. It is a 
most valuable fertilizer, supplying the crops with sulphuric 
acid and lime, and enters in its combined form into some 
plants. It is soluble in 400 times its bulk of water. It is 
largely and beneficially used as an absorbent of ammonia 
in stables and manure heaps ; exercising this action by the 
ease with which it parts with its sulphuric acid ; giving this 
up to the ammonia, from which it takes in exchange car- 
bonic acid; thus forming carbonate of lime and sulphate of 
ammonia. 

Nitrate of Lime, is little heard of in agricultural lit- 
erature and yet it undoubtedly has a most interesting rela- 
tion to plant growth. The production of nitric acid, arti- 
ficially, in the so called ''niter beds," has been already 



114 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

referred to, but may be usefully recalled in this connection, 
because nitrate of lime is formed as a result of the combina- 
tions. This compound rapidly absorbs water, and is never 
found as a solid in its natural condition, but always in so- 
lution as a liquid. It is supposed to exist in all fertile soils, 
and to furnish most valuable plant food; but being extreme- 
ly soluble and being rapidly changed to carbonate of lime 
by a low heat, it escapes detection in the analysis of soils or 
vegetable substances, while its constituents have entered in- 
to other combinations. 

Phosphate of Lime, formed by the combination of 
lime with phosphoric acid is an exceedingly important ele- 
ment of vegetable and animal substance. It forms 57 per 
cent, of the dried bones of an animal and exists to some ex- 
tent in every part of its body. It is largely contained in 
the seeds of plants, and in all the grasses. Next to nitro- 
gen it is the most valuable constituent of manures and fer- 
tilizers, and its sufficient supply to the soil gives the farmer 
much care and anxiety in regard to the culture and perfec- 
tion of his crops. It exists naturally in the rocks as apa- 
tite, or mineral phosphate of lime, and thus consists of 54£ 
per cent, of lime, and 45 J per cent, of phosphoric acid ; bone 
phosphate of lime, containing 51? per cent, of lime, and 48 i 
per cent, of phosphoric acid. A bi-phosphate of lime is 
found in animal manures, chiefly in the urine, in which 
there are 71 J per cent, of phosphoric acid and 28 1 per 
cent of lime. The phosphate of lime and bones, furnish 
the basis for the manufacture of superphosphate of lime 
which is one of the most valuable fertilizers. 

Magnesium, is a metal having many j)oints of similar- 
ity to those above mentioned. It is white, easily inflamma- 
ble, and when burned in the air unites with oxygen form- 
ing a compound or earthy oxide known as magnesia. It is 
of no direct interest in relation to vegetable growth. Its 
compounds enter into vegetable and animal substance, at 
times to a considerable extent. 

Chloride of Magnesium, exists in the water of the 
ocean to a larger extent than chloride of sodium and gives 



MAGNESIA COMPOUNDS. 115 

to it its bitter taste. It is met with in the ash of plants, and 
also mixed with salt in the water of salt springs and in 
rock salt. It therefore forms a constituent of the German 
potash salts in which it exists in a considerable proportion ; 
although it is not estimated at all in the market value of 
these fertilizers. 

Sulphate of Magnesia, is the common Epsom salts. 
It has been used as a substitute for gypsum in the same 
manner, and for the same kinds of crops, but it is too costly 
for this jDiirpose. It has been considered as injurious to 
crops by some farmers, and as it exists abundantly in al- 
most all soils, and is an ingredient of widely distributed 
rocks, but little interest is afforded by its consideration. 

Caebonate of Magnesia, is found abundantly in many 
kinds of marble and other limestone as an impurity, and is 
not considered of any value. 

Phosphate of Magnesia, exists in the blood and tis- 
sue of all animals and in the ash of nearly all plants. It is 
in this form that it chiefly enters into the substance of 
plants ; but as it exists in the soil in sufficient quantities it 
has never been brought to the notice of farmers as necessary 
for the growth of crops. No doubt there are conditions 
under which the soil may be benefited by an application of 
some form of magnesia, but this can easily be given indi- 
rectly with the potash salts or with lime. It forms a con- 
stituent of nearly all commercial fertilizers, in some com- 
bination or other. 

Phosphorus. — This element does not exist in a free or 
uncombined state in nature, this being impossible because 
of its extreme inflammability. It is a soft, colorless, trans- 
lucent, wax-like substance which takes fire on the slightest 
friction and burns with much violence; emitting dense 
white fumes of phosphoric acid. It is insoluble in water. 
It was discovered by Brandt more than 200 years ago, and 
because of its intensely inflammable character, was much 
dreaded by the uninformed alchemists, who termed it "the Son 
of Satan." It exists in vegetable and animal substance; 
being a constituent of albumen and fibrin, and of the ner- 



116 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

vous substance. It is a far more abundant element in organic 
nature than sulphur, which resembles it in many respects. 

Phosphoric Acid, is the form in which this element is 
of the greatest interest to farmers ; because of the universal 
and most important relation which this compound bears to 
vegetable and animal life. This acid is exceedingly sour; 
is readily soluble in water, and is corrosive to vegetable and 
animal substances. It does not exist in a free state, although 
it is frequently mentioned as a constituent of the ash of all 
plants; but is always found in combination; chiefly with 
potash, soda, lime, and magnesia. In these forms it is uni- 
versally diffused through nature and it is in these combina- 
tions that it is of interest in the study of its relation to plant 
growth. 

Sulphur, is too well known to need any detailed de- 
scription. It is only of interest in its combined form as sul- 
phuric acid and this in its state of combination with other 
substances. Alone, this acid is the most corrosive substance 
known, dissolving or decomposing all organic and many 
inorganic substances. When in combination with metals 
or alkaline substances it forms sulphates. These exist 
abundantly in nature and some of them, as sulphates of 
potash and lime are useful to vegetation, while others, as sul- 
phate of iron or sulphate of alumina are hurtful. 

Silicon, exists only artificially as a dark brown powder 
prepared with great difficulty by a tedious chemical process. 
In its oxide as 

Silica, it is one of the most abundant substances, form- 
ing the larger part of almcst all minerals ; being almost the 
sole constituent of the most common rocks and a part of al- 
most every one of others. Its character is that of an acid, 
as it combines with alkalies, and forms silicates, as silicate 
of lime; of potash; of soda &c. It exists in the ash of all 
plants without exception, and quite largely in many, form- 
ing the outer coverings of the stems and seeds ; thus pro- 
viding support for the plant, and protection for the germ, 
or vital portion of the seed. These silicates are soluble in 
water or are easily decomposed by water containing some 



THE SILICATES. 117 

caustic alkali, as lime, in solution ; and the silica is then 
made available as food for plants. 

The insoluble silicates of potash, lime, soda and magnesia 
exist in many mineral substances. The transparent glassy 
mineral known as mica, and often wrongly called "isin- 
glass" and which is used for the windows of stoves, is a sili- 
cate of alumina and potash, being composed of 46.3 per cent, 
of silica ; 36.8 per cent, of alumina ; 9.2 per cent, of potash, 
with a little iron ; the very common mineral, feldspar, is 
another silicate of alumina, containing 16.95 per cent, of 
potash : another abundant mineral, prehnite, contains 26 
per cent, of lime in combination with silica and alumina ; 
other similar minerals have soda instead of potash, and some 
have magnesia in their composition. As these minerals 
which form vast rocks, and mountain masses, are slowly de- 
composed by the action of the atmosphere and the carbonic 
acid contained in it and by the rains ; or are broken up by 
the frosts of repeated winters, the debris is carried down 
and borne to the lower grounds and forms the richest soils. 
The glistening specks of mica which are seen so abundantly 
in the soils over extensive areas, all tell the story of inex- 
haustible stores of potash, and soda, held safely until the 
slow action of the weather, the effective labors of the farmer, 
and the chemical agency of the manures and fertilizers he 
applies to the soil, unlock them from the close embrace of 
the silica and release them to become aliment for the crops, 
and bring comfort and wealth to mankind. 

These silicates are a subject for most interesting study, 
and although silica is rarely considered by farmers as of any 
value to them, it is really one of the most important of the 
inorganic elements. But it exists so abundantly in nature, 
and in such a readily available form, that like the air and 
the water which come to us unbidden, this really precious 
plant food is furnished as a free gift, without money or price 
and is lavished most abundantly upon us, so that the farmer 
is in no way concerned in regard to it. 

Chlokine, is a gas of a most pungent and offensive char- 
acter,; of a greenish yellow color ; and is one of the elements 



118 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

which, combined, form hydro-chloric acid ; commonly called 
muriatic acid. This element fortunately does not exist in a 
free state but is quite abundant in combination ; forming 60 
per cent, of common salt ; (chloride of sodium). It is easily 
produced by decomposing salt by means of the black oxide 
of manganese, mixed with it, and placed in a bottle or jar 
and pouring sulphuric acid upon the mixture. The chlo- 
rine is separated from the salt and is given off in the form of 
the gas described. It is a most characteristic element. It 
extinguishes fire ; but it causes phosphorus ; gold (in the 
form of "leaf"); potassium ; sodium ; and many other met- 
als, to take fire when immersed in it, and burn ; combining 
with them and forming chlorides. It is 4£ times heavier 
than air, and may be poured from one vessel to another. 
Animals cannot breathe it, and when unmixed it destroys 
all living vegetables. Yet its solution in water promotes 
the germination of seeds. 

It exerts a strongly destructive effect upon organic matter, 
and hence is employed as a disinfecting agent, to decompose 
the noxious gases which emanate from putrid vegetable and 
animal matter. It also quickly destroys colors, and on this 
account is used for bleaching cotton goods. It is extensive- 
ly distributed in nature as may be seen by its universal pres- 
ence in the ash of plants, in some combined form. It is also 
present in all the secretions and other fluids of animals, and 
forms, as hydro-chloric acid, a portion of the gastric fluid of 
the stomach. This acid is composed of chlorine and hy- 
drogen. 

We have thus enumerated and described, as far as may 
be useful, the inorganic elements of plants, and those parts 
of th&n which are derived from the soil. The nature of the 
soil itself next claims our careful consideration. 



THE SOIL. 



CHA PTEK XVIII . 

THE SOIL.— ITS ORIGIN AND FORMATION. 

A study of the principles of geology will be found very 
useful and instructive to the farmer, for they explain how 
the soil which he prepares for his crops, and from which the 
subsistence of man is procured was formed ; from what ma- 
terials it was derived; and how it came to be available for 
his purposes. 

The earth was once "without form and void and water 
covered the great deep." This is the testimony of inspira- 
tion as given in the Scriptures and it is the testimony given 
by the rocks themselves. Everything in relation to the 
rocks and the soil which has been derived from them, prove 
the combined agency of great heat and of water, in their 
construction. The solid earth is composed in greater part 
of a few elements only ; the larger part of the 64 which are 
known to exist, are found only in small quantities; and 
when we enumerate the 8 inorganic substances already men- 
tioned as contributing the mineral elements of vegetation 
and add to them the single one alumina which is chiefly 
represented by clay, we have all the elements which make 
up the vast bulk of the globe and form the soil which cov- 
ers its surface. 

The solid rocks which form what we call the crust of the 
earth are of two kinds, viz : those which give evidence of 
having been erupted from a molten mass and of having been 
cooled into a solid state, and those which give evidence of 
having been deposited by the agency of water. It may per- 
haps best explain our subject by giving a short history of 
what is believed to have been the manner in which the earth 
was brought into its present condition. 

The condensation of the gaseous materials of which the 
earth is composed, at its original formation, produced a heat 



120 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

incomprehensible to our minds in its intensity, and of which 
we have an example in the present condition of the sun. 
In course of ages the gases became condensed to fluids and 
by a gradual j^rocess of cooling the various elements became 
plastic and more adherent ; separating from each other by 
molecular attraction and forming layers or masses, which 
formed a crust around the central portion, still fluid from 
the retained heat. 

At this period of the earth's history it was surrounded by 
a dense atmosphere of steam ; produced by the vaporization 
of the water by the heat. Upon still further gradual cool- 
ing the watery vapor became condensed, in part ; and the 
heated masses of plastic rock were enveloped in an ocean of 
boiling water, above which floated the dense volumes of 
steam. Here was indeed chaos, and the darkness which 
covered the waters and the earth. As the cooled crust 
hardened, it shrank, and as the pressure of the molten mass 
within it burst the thin shell, it was vomited forth into the 
ocean, causing explosions and outbursts of steam, which as- 
cending, became cooled and fell in tremendous torrents of 
rain, into the ocean. A seething, boiling, tumultuous ocean, 
thus enveloped the globe; while vast eruptions from 
beneath it forced mountain masses of plastic rock far above 
its surface, and these were washed with the descending rain 
torrents. The soft rock was thus broken down into mud 
which flowed into the depressions, forming vast beds at first 
horizontally spread out. All this went on during vast ages ; 
a period of terrible commotion and chaotic disturbance. 
As the gradual cooling proceeded, the disturbances became 
less frequent. At times the pressure from below the hard- 
ened crust lifted this slowly, breaking it into fissures and 
throwing up the rocks upon their edges, or into vast waves. 
These waves of rock were sometimes burst at their summit, 
when melted matter flowed over them and filled the depres- 
sions between them ; or one side of the broken crust would 
fall back to a lower level leaving a precipitous wall of rock 
on the other side. The ocean beating upon these heated 
rocks, quickly wore them down into mud or sand; and 



THE FORMATION OF THE SOIL. 121 

these spreading out under the great depths were soon pressed 
and hardened into the slates or the sandstones which we 
know so well. The hot water holding silica in solution gave 
up its burden as it cooled, and gradually added it to these 
beds furnishing the cement which bound them into a firm 
mass; or it filled the fissures and formed the quartz beds and 
veins so prominent among the existing mountain masses. 

Then came long periods of rest. The ocean cooled and ' 
no longer gave forth the vast clouds of steam which hid the 
sun. Then came the light, and the day and night. The 
dry land was formed by the lifting up of the earth's crust 
along continuous lines ; the rocks being broken and tilted 
on their edges, and higher in places than in others, formed 
lines of islands through the enveloping ocean. Thus were 
formed the great chain of the Rocky mountains, and the 
lesser chain of the Blue ridge and Appalachians which stretch 
from Georgia to the north into lower Canada, and of which 
the White mountains and the Adirondacks are a part. A 
great broad valley was formed between these mountain 
chains, and a gradual slope on either side down to the 
depths of the ocean. By gradual shrinking of the still cool- 
ing crust, the mountain chains were lifted up and great de- 
pressions were formed into which the ocean withdrew, leav- 
ing broad continents stretching from the south to the north 
poles. All these changes of course were accompanied by 
vast floods which washed the loose materials into depres- 
sions and formed layers of gravel, sand, clay and earth, much 
as Ave find them to-day when we excavate the banks of earth 
on the hill sides. 

Then came the ice period. Everywhere over half the 
earth's surface were vast beds of ice. These spread from 
the mountain tops down their sloping sides to the valleys. 
As the lower portions melted, the pressure of the enormous 
masses above, forced these beds of ice downwards, slowly 
but continuously ; as the glaciers of the present age move 
down the mountain sides. The tremendous pressure ground 
down the rocks into powder; wearing away thousands of 
feet from the top, cutting off the crests of huge bends and 



122 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

waves : and as the ice melted under the heat of the pressure 
and friction, great floods emerged from under the glaciers 
and carried the broken down rock, sand, and mud, with them, 
and spread them in the valleys ; forming broad shallow lakes 
which eventually dried up and left wide areas of soil. 

Thus were formed the broad plains and prairies; the 
gently swelling vales and the broad valleys ; and the hills 
and mountains were left to give birth to the rivers which 
cut their ways through the soil, on their passage to the 
source from which the all powerful beams of the sun first 
drew them. 

Then came the first plant ; a humble moss or lichen, cov- 
ering the soil in the first ages of vegetation, and gradually 
gathering from the atmosphere the carbon, nitrogen, oxy- 
gen, and hydrogen; and the various inorganic elements which 
have been described; furnished by their death and decay 
the sources from which future ages of life might spring. 
And by the gradual accumulation of stores of carbon and 
nitrogen in the soil, a better and richer vegetation was 
evolved, until the time came when the sweetly odorous 
flowers; the verdant meadows; the glorious forests; the 
teeming fruits and the nutritious grains covering the prolific 
soil; made a fit home for man; and the earth was given to 
him for his eternal heritage and dominion. 

Thus was the soil formed and man became a tiller of the. 
ground. 



THE ROCKS THE ORIGIN OF SOILS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE ROCKS.— THEIR COMPOSITION AND INFLUENCE 
UPON THE SOIL. 

Rocks are divided by geologists into two great classes ; 
one termed primary ; igneous ; or unstratified ; such as gran- 
ite; quartz, &c: the other, secondary; stratified; or sedi- 
mentary; as sandstones slates &c; by which is meant that 
the latter has been formed from the debris of the former as 
has been explained in the previous chapter. One other 
class is termed, generally, the tertiary or third formation ; 
and this consists, of the water worn pebbles; gravels; marl 
beds ; clays and sandstones which have been formed by the 
later changes on the earth's surface and since animals of 
the kinds which now exist appeared on the globe. For this 
class of rocks are distinguished by the frequency of animal 
remains in them, which are similar to or identical with 
species which now exist. 

These three classes are divided into various sub-classes 
called systems and these again into formations; each of 
these having some common resemblance, which shows that 
they were deposited under nearly the same general physi- 
cal conditions of the earth's surface. Thus there is the car- 
boniferous system, consisting of a series of limestones; sand- 
stones; iron stones; and beds of coal; which contain animal 
and vegetable remains of the same species, and are thus 
shown to have been formed at one special era of the earth's 
history. From the characteristics and formation and order of 
deposition of these beds, the geologist or an attentive intelli- 
gent student, can form as clear an idea of what occurred 
during the age in which these plants grew and these ani- 
mals lived, and these rocks were deposited and formed, as 
if he had the open volume before him in which he might 
read the history. This is a study of the most intense inter- 



124 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

est to the farmer, who plows the soil and reaps his crops 
from the land made rich by the remains of past ages of veg- 
etable and animal life; and the history of which is recalled 
as he turns up in his fields the fossil or stony remains of creat- 
ures which existed, we know not how many ag< s ago. 

The composition of the various rocks is of great interest 
to the student, because, as the soil is formed from the rocks, 
and its character is recognized by fragments of the prevail- 
ing rocks of which it is made up, the nature of the soil is 
necessarily similar to that of the rocks of which it consists. 
This knowledge of the rocks is indispensable to farmers, for 
without it they cannot know what they should of their soils, 
and the adaptability of these to the crops which they grow. 
For there are wheat lands ; corn lands ; grass lands ; soils 
for fruit; for the vine; for the dairy; for sheep; and for 
other special crops as hops, tobacco, &c, and a right choice 
of land for a special purpose is indispensable to successful 
agriculture. 

Granite is the foundation rock of the globe. It is the 
basis of the oldest mountain ranges whose granite peaks, 
bare and rugged, point their pinnacles to the noon-day sun 
and defy the foot of man to reach them. This rock is of 
great importance in the formation of the soil ; for it contains 
the most indispensable elements for vegetable growth ; viz : 
silica; potash, alumina and soda; and in veins which are 
contained in it, lime; magnesia; phosphoric acid; sulphur 
and chlorine are found. Thus from this one rock and its 
accompanying minerals may be furnished to the soil, every 
inorganic element needed for the successful growth of crops. 
It is made up of crystals of quartz, feldspar, and mica, ce- 
mented together most compactly and making a rock of ex- 
treme hardness. The quartz is the clear, glassy, white, 
mineral ; which makes up the larger portion of the ordinary 
sand ; the feldspar is a flesh colored, or white, milky col- 
ored substance, softer than the quartz, and is usually in the 
form of square or rhomboidal crystals ; the mica is in white 
yellow or black scales. 

There are no richer soils than those derived from granite, 



FERTILITY OF GRANITE SOILS. 125 

the component parts of which contribute every necessary 
element for abundant and vigorous vegetable growth ; while 
the large proportion of silica existing in them, with the 
alumina and magnesia, give them a loose open texture which 
makes them easy of cultivation and permeable to water. 
These soils produce wheat and all the grains, grasses, fodder 
crops, and fruit, to perfection. They may be readily dis- 
tinguished by the glistening of the small bright particles of 
mica which glitter in the sunlight, and by their loose open 
mellow texture. They bear a forest growth of oak, hick- 
ory, elm, basswood and white pines of the largest dimen- 
sions and finest quality; and having a deep surface soil with 
an open subsoil rarely require artificial drainage. 

The principal constituents of the feldspar of which these 
soils largely consist are silica, alumina, potash, and soda ; 
the soda feldspar is called albite; the potash feldspar is 
called orthoclase. These minerals have the following com- 
position. 

Orthoclase. Albite. 

Silica 05.21 69.09 

Alumina 18.13 19.22 

Potash 1G.66 

Soda 11.69 

100.00 100.00 

The mica contained in the granite has a varied composi- 
tion, one kind containing magnesia in considerable propor- 
tion. The following are analyses of these two kinds. 

Potash Mica. Magnesia Mica. 

Silica 46.10 40.00 

Alumina 31.60 12.67 

Oxide of iron 8.65 19.03 

Potash 8.39 5.61 

Magnesia 1.40 16.33 

Fluoric acid 1.12 2.10 

Water 1.00 

Titanic acid 1.63 

98.26 97.37 

When the granite contains hornblende in place of mica 
it is called Syenite. Hornblende is a black glassy mineral, 
very tough and hard; and contains the following substances. 



126 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

Basalt Hornblende. Syenite Hornblende. 

Silica 42.24 45.69 

Alumina 13.92 12.18 

Lime 12.24 13.83 

Magnesia 13.74 18.79 

Oxide of iron 14.59 7.32 

Oxide of Manganese 0.33 0.22 

Fluoric acid 1.50 

97.06 99.53 

This variety of granite is distinguished by the absence of 
potash and the presence of lime in notable quantity. 

Granite also contains a number of other minerals in veins, 
or scattered through the mass. Among the most important 
of these are apatite or phosphate of lime ; marble or crys- 
tallized carbonate of lime ; tourmaline ; epidote and cryso- 
lite. These furnish to the soil the phosphoric acid, which 
is indispensable for vegetable life and growth, and contrib- 
ute lime, magnesia, potash and soda as well. Where these 
minerals abound, the soil is fertile and bears abundant crops. 
The greater parts of New England ; northern New York ; 
eastern Canada; Pennsylvania, parts of New Jersey, West 
Virginia and southward along the mountains and eastward 
to their feet, are covered with soil produced by the decom- 
position of this class of rocks and prove by the high culture 
and value of the soil, how well it is furnished with the ele- 
ments of plant food. 

The same may be said of all the other rocks of this class; 
which consist of similar minerals varying more or less in 
proportion. This variation naturally has an effect upon 
the character of the soils derived from these rocks. For 
when phosphoric acid is deficient, no surplus of other ele- 
ments will make up a fertile soil ; and when the lime or 
potash has been washed from the soil on the higher lands 
into the valleys, the sandy land which remains has no good 
quality to attract the husbandman. 

The most fertile soils are those derived from the decom- 
position of limestone rocks. When the traveller across the 
continent passes the Appalachian mountains, he enters the 
grand valley of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and 
traverses a vast region of the utmost fertility, renowned as 



VALUE OF LIMESTONE LANDS. 127 

the granary of the world and surpassingly rich in cattle. 
The blue grass region of Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and 
Iowa; the inexhaustible bottoms of the Ohio rivers; the 
"loess" soils of Nebraska and Kansas and the rich prairies 
and forests of the north western states, are all underlaid with 
limestone rocks and covered with a limestone soil of unsur- 
passed fertility. These lands have made the United States 
the richest and most powerful nation of the world ; for they 
have attracted the many millions of industrious enterprising 
immigrants which have covered these lands with fertile 
farms, the produce of which has given employment to the 
great railroads and fleets of steamships which carry abroad 
millions of tons of grain and provisions and bring back more 
of the wealth of muscle and brain, which makes up the 
strength and power of this great nation. The following ta- 
ble exhibits the character of the soils referred to. 

12 3 

From Kentucky From the From 

blue grass region. Ohio valley. Nebraska. 

Silica and fine sand 7G.20 85.14 80.51 

Alumina 8.51 5.66 6.81 

Oxide of iron 2.59 1.22 0.31 

Lime 3.92 1.56 4.40 

Magnesia 1.68 .31 1.16 

Potash 1.14 .48 2.13 

Soda 0.64 .02 .21 

Phosphoric acid 1.65 1.60 1.22 

Gypsum , .01 .02 .09 

Chlorine 01 .03 .03 

Carbonic acid .08 

Organic matter 2.62 3.38 2.44 

99.97 99.50 99.31 

Every element required for the abundant growth of crops 
is here represented in such proportion as will ensure lasting 
fertility under judicious management. Everywhere that 
limestone prevails fruit is unusually excellent; grass grows 
with profusion ; and sheep cattle and horses are unexcelled. 
The cattle, horses, and the pastures of Kentucky furnish 
types of the fertility of the limestone soils. 

The so called drift soils are those made up of materials 
transported from a distance by the floods and ice beds, of 
the later periods of the geological ages. These soils are 



128 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

marked by the utmost diversity and irregularity of charac- 
ter, as may well be supposed from their origin. Beds ot 
gravel or of sand; interspersed with patches of coarse 
boulders, or of mixed soil covered with the hard heads, 
which can scarcely be broken, overlie hard pan of gravel 
packed so firmly as to resist the passage of water, and these 
alternate so frequently that at times a 10 acre field has sev- 
eral kinds of soil in it. The action of the drift and of the 
ice, which has been explained, necessarily produces such a 
condition of soil, which is the effect of the currents and ed- 
dies made by the varying circumstances of the continually 
changing flow of water. Thus the drift soils are mostly of 
inferior character and offer few advantages for the farmer, 
who should scrutinize closely, when he is in search of a farm, 
the soil which he expects to cultivate. 

Another inferior class of soils is derived from sandstones, 
which consist mostly of quartz cemented together with si- 
licious matter. These soils are exceedingly light and po- 
rous, and while they are easily cultivated, their j:>orosity is a 
serious disadvantage, and with the absence of the more val- 
uable minerals required to form a fertile soil, render them 
undesirable for general farming. These soils are excellent 
for gardening, and when underlaid with clay which is in 
reach of the plow, they produce the finest quality of wheat 
and corn, but are not suitable for grass. In general a far- 
mer should reject land of this character unless there are 
some special circumstances which go to mitigate the unde- 
sirable character of it. 

One other class of soils remains to be mentioned viz. the 
alluvial "bottom lands" so called because they occupy the 
low level grounds on the borders of rivers, and have been 
formed by deposits brought down from higher lands by pe- 
riodical floods. These lands are generally of the richest 
character, formed as they have been of the surface soil of 
the higher lands along the banks of the rivers which has 
been washed down by the rains. The soil thus formed is 
exceedingly rich in organic matter and potash, and indeed 
in all the soluble compounds of both organic and inorganic 



ROCKS A GUIDE TO THE QUALITY OF THE SOIL. 129 

elements, and are practically inexhaustible of fertility. 
Some of them have been under cultivation for 100 years,, 
and under ordinary fair treatment and a judicious rotation 
of crops are now yielding as much as when first cleared of 
the original forest more than 100 years ago. 

The practical conclusions to be derived from the preced- 
ing considerations may be summed up as follows. 

First — Soils are derived either wholly or in part from the 
rocks upon which they rest ; and when the soil is made up of 
accumulations of drifted materials brought from a distance, 
these are more or less mixed with materials derived from 
the rocks upon which they lie. 

Second. — That the condition of the rocky materials of the 
soil may be made a guide as to the relation of the soil to 
the underlying rocks : for when these fragments are sharp' 
and angular, it proves that they have been derived from 
adjacent sources and have not been transported any great 
distance ; while the roundness and smoothness of the drift 
indicate the more or less distant sources from which they 
have been brought. 

Third. — A knowledge of the composition of the rocks 
from which any soil has been derived, enables the farmer 
to form an accurate judgment of the quality and general 
nature of the soil and becomes a safe guide to him as to the 
details of its culture and management. 

Fourth. — That as a result of the foregoing a study of the 
outlines, at least, of the science of geology is of great import- 
ance to the farmer and will be a most useful aid in the in- 
telligent and successful culture of farm crops. 



THE CULTURE OF FAI1M CROPS. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS. 

While the later and more accurate knowledge regarding 
the relation of soils to the growth of crops, has rendered 
obsolete many of the former views and opinions held by 
agricultural students in respect of the importance of this re- 
lation, yet the practical farmer will easily recognize the 
fact that the physical conditions of the soil ; that is, its den- 
sity ; the fineness of its particles ; its firmness and adhesive 
power; its capacity for imbibing and retaining moisture; 
its color ; the amount of contraction upon drying ; its po- 
rosity and consequent power of admitting air, and gaseous 
substances with it : that all these are of primary importance 
to its successful culture and worthy of careful consideration 
and study. 

Some soils are much heavier than others ; not only in 
reference to the ordinary sense in which the terms "heavy" and 
"light" are used to denote clay or sandy soils; but as re- 
gards the absolute specific gravity and the weight of equal 
bulks. Thus a cubic foot of 

Dry sandy or limestone soil weighs 110 lbs. 

( lay loam, half sand 95 " 

Heavy sandy loam 80 to 90 " 

Pure clay 75 '• 

Rich garden mold 70 " 

Peaty soil from swamps 30 to 50 " 

Sandy soil, largely made up of quartz is the heaviest and 
the weight of soil is less as the proportion of clay and veg- 
etable matter increases. This quality of the soil is not 
without ] ractical importance: for the heavier a soil is the 
less it is compressed or packed by the passage of loads or of 
cattle over it ; the less it is washed by heavy rams ; and ac- 
cording to a number of experiments made in Germany it 
has been shown that the denser and heavier the soils, the 



USES OF STONE IN THE SOIL. 131 

longer the sun's heat is retained after night fall, or after a 
change in the weather. The exemption from frosts of light 
sandy lands while peaty soils are more' subject to them is 
another result of this quality. 

The state of division of the particles of a soil is intimately- 
connected with its density and weight. The exceedingly- 
fine particles of which the "loess" soils of Nebraska and of 
the Mississippi bottoms consist, and the coarser nature of 
the gravelly lands of New England, certainly have much to 
do with their productive character and money value, because 
these are controlled by ease of working and facility of man- 
agement, quite as much as by their fertility ; and this prop- 
erty is not to be lightly passed over or ignored, in this con- 
sideration. Some considerable quantity of stone is not 
considered by many farmers as injurious or even objection- 
able ; for when the stone is not large enough to interfere 
with the employment of the implements, the plow, harrow, 
drill, and mower and reaper, it is really a benefit, for it 
warms the land in the winter and cools it in the summer, 
condensing moisture around it in the latter case and so aid- 
ing considerably in the growth of the crops. The frag- 
ments of certain kinds of rocks, especially the fossiliferous 
slates and limestones, are quickly worn down by the weath- 
er and contribute to a useful extent to the mineral plant 
food cf the soil ; so that there are cases in which a moderate 
quantity of loose stone in the soil is a benefit rather than 
an incumbrance, in more ways than one. This is the case in 
western New York where the fossiliferous limestone prevails 
and in eastern Pennsylvania and southward along the moun- 
tains, where the micaceous schists and slates and the mag- 
nesian talcose rocks abound ; and in their gradual wearing 
down furnish new supplies of plant food to the land. 

When soils cohere and become hard and cloddy, or, bake 
into a hard crust on the surface after rain, this is objection- 
able ; as compelling the farmer to spend a good deal of la- 
bor in reducing the clods and pulverizing the surface by 
frequent cultivation. Sandy loams and light clay loams 
have not this objectionable coherence; while stiff clays are 



132 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

especially subject to it, and are consequently difficult to 
work and at times the crops suffer on such soils. Then 
thorough drainage, or the admixture of a large quantity of 
sand or vegetable matter or lime, or all of them are needed 
to secure the largest possible crops. In the end these meth- 
ods will bring the stiffest clay soil to a condition in which 
it may be worked to advantage, but the cost of all this is to 
be taken into account when a farm is examined with a view 
to its purchase, or when methods are required to bring it to 
a condition of suitable pulverization. In this case the far- 
mer will do well to study the character of the implements 
he employs very carefully, and choose those which are the 
most effective for this purpose, so that the land may be most 
perfectly and economically worked. 

Some soils are extremely adhesive and clog the imple- 
ments even when made of the best, the hardest, and the 
smoothest metal. All soils are more resistant to the plow 
when wet, than when dry, and also to an iron than to a 
chilled or steel plow. While the resistance of a sandy soil 
when wet, is equal to 4 lbs. to the square foot of the surface^ 
which passes through it, a fertile vegetable soil or a rich 
loam, exerts a resisting force of about 6 lbs. and clay 
soils from 8 to 25 lbs. to the square foot. These differences 
will certainly form considerable items in the calculation of 
a farmer who is estimating the cost of working, or the ef- 
fectiveness of it, and the consequent value that may be put 
on the land. 

The capacity for absorbing and holding water is of para- 
mount importance to the soil, for the ability to produce crops 
depends greatly upon this quality. Soils vary greatly in 
this respect ; as will be shown in the following instances. 
When a sample of soil is dried thoroughly in a moderately 
cool oven, or on a plate placed over boiling water, and is 
then spread out on paper in the open air, it will take up 
watery vapor from the atmosphere, and will thus increase 
in weight. The capacity of the soil in this respect may be 
easily tested by weighing accurately 100 ounces of soil dried 
for 24 hours in the manner above described. Rich garden 



ABSORBENT POWER OF SOILS. 133 

loam thus treated will absorb about 2 per cent, of moisture 
from the atmosphere in a night of 12 hours. In dry sea- 
sons this quality of the soil is very useful in restoring the 
moisture which was lost during the day and that which has 
been exhaled by the plants — and this is usually more than 
is lost directly by evaporation from the soil. 

Different soils possess this property in very unequal de- 
grees. Thus it has been found that 1000 lbs. of 

Quartz sand will gain nothing. 

Limestone sand gains..... 2 pounds. 

Sandy loam soil gains 21 " 

Clay loam soil gains 25 " 

Pure clay gains 27 " ' 

Peat gains 80 " 

This last figure should not be passed by without calling 
attention to the value in this respect of a large admixture 
of decayed peat or swamp muck to all kinds of soil. The 
author has found that the addition of 100 loads of swamp 
muck, well composted with quick lime, per acre, spread up- 
on very light sandy soil, saved a crop of corn from injury 
during a very dry season, in which the corn upon adjacent 
land not so treated, curled and wilted and made no more 
than half an ordinary yield of ears and fodder. The corn 
dressed with the compost remained dark green in color; 
and never curled on the hottest days, while the adjoining 
rows of corn were dry and yellow. The most fertile soils 
possess this property to the largest extent, hence the farmer 
who cultivates his soil and treats it in the most liberal man- 
ner secures the highest recompense for his labor. 

Soils also vary in their capacity to retain water. If wat- 
er be poured drop by drop upon a piece cf dry clay the in- 
terstices of the hard clod will be gradually filled with water 
and then will hold no more. At length the drops will fall 
from the bottom of it as they fall on to the top of it. All 
sorts of soil possess this property to some extent. The rains 
fall and are quickly drank in by the pores or interstices of 
the soil and are there firmly held until the water is driven 
off by long continued heat and exposure to hot dry air. 
But after long continued rains the soil is saturated and the 



134 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

overplus either runs off from the surface or sinks into the 
subsoil or escapes through the drains. In drained land this 
power of retaining or holding water in the largest quantity- 
is of the highest advantage, for, while the injurious excess 
is carried off and removed a large supply remains for the 
sustenance of the crops. The difference between soils in this 
respect is quite large. Thus 100 lbs. of the following named 
soils will begin to part with water, if it be 

A pure sand when it has absorbed 25 pounds. 

A limestone sand when it has absorbed '29 " 

A sandy loam soil when it has absorbed -10 " 

A limestone clay loam when it has absorbed... 45 " 

A pure clay loam when it has absorbed 50 " 

A pure clay when it has absorbed 70 " 

A dry peat when it has absorbed 180 " 

The best arable soils are therefore able to hold within 
their interstices from 40 to 70 per cent, of their weight of 
water; while the best grass lands will easily hold even 
more than their own weight. As grass thrives all the 
better, the larger the supply of water may be, the most 
retentive soils are therefore better used for meadows than 
for grain crops. 

In the climate of America this ability to hold water dur- 
ing the frequent, long drouths of the growing season, gives 
a high value to those soils which possess it in the highest 
degree ; and also has a noteworthy bearing upon the ques- 
tion of drainage ; for where a soil is able to, and will, retain 
more water in its pores, without parting with it by percola- 
tion, it is all the more necessary and the least injurious to 
supply the land with an escape for the surplus. For the 
more water that is held by the soil, the less air can be con- 
tained in it and air is quite as useful for the growth of plants 
as water is, for while water is the vehicle by which nutri- 
ment is conveyed into plants, it has been shown that a large 
quantity of food is derived by plants either directly or in- 
directly from the atmosphere, which requires this vehicle 
for its conveyance. 

A fact of much interest in this connection is that those 
soils which absorb the most water resist evaporation for the 
longest period. The power of absorption is due to the sur- 



EVAPORATION FROM THE SOIL. 135 

face attraction of the particles of the soil for water. The 
filler the particles of the soil, the greater quantity of water 
is absorbed, because the total surface is greater. The nat- 
ural result of this is, that the slower is the evaporation from 
the soil, because the natural affinity of the surfaces for mois- 
ture being greater it is proportionately harder to overcome 
it by evaporation. The following table gives the. results 
reached by Schubler in experiments in this direction. 
In the first column the figures are nearly a repetition 
of those given in the last preceding table, but they 
are here placed in juxtaposition with the second column, 
which shows the quantity of water which was evaporated 
in 4 hours when the samples of the soil were spread over 
equal surfaces and exposed to the same conditions. 

Per cent. Per cent, of 

of water water evaporated 

aosorbed. in 1 hours. 

Quartz sand 25 88.4 

Limestone sand 29 75.9 

Clay with 40 per cent, sand 40 52. 

Loam 51 45.7 

Common arable land 52 32. 

Heavy clay 20 per cent, sand Gl 34.6 

Powdered carbonate of lime 85 28. 

Garden soil 89 24.3 

Peat decayed 181 25.5 

This resistence to evaporation is not only due to the ad- 
hesion of the water to the surfaces of the particles of the soil, 
but is due to capillary attraction. If a capillary tube, that 
is one having a very small diameter, is dipped into water a 
portion of its length ; the water within the tube rises con- 
siderably above the level of that without it. This is due to 
what is known as capillary attraction. If a piece of woolen 
cloth is hung over the edge of a pail half full of w r ater, so 
that one end is in the water, the water will rise through the fi- 
bers of the cloth ; these forming capillary tubes ; and will flow 
over the edge of the pail until the pail is emptied. If two 
sheets of glass are placed in a vessel of colored water, and 
the two edges are brought into contact at one side 
and separated a small space at the other side, the col- 
ored water will be seen to rise between the plates and 



136 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

form a curve, or line which marks the gradual approach 
of the two. The liquid rises higher as the space 
between the plates is closer. This is due to capillary ac- 
tion. The same action is exerted in the spaces between the 
particles of the soil ; the vertical spaces forming tubes through 
the mass. 

When water is poured into the saucer of a flower pot the 
soil gradually draws it up until the top is moistened. This 
takes place in the soil of a field; the water being gradually 
drawn up from below until the capacity to hold it is fully 
exercised. Thus there is a constant ebb and flow of water 
in the soil. The rains descend and sink into the soil 
finding an outlet in springs at a lower level; or a rest- 
ing place in the subsoil ; and it is gradually brought to 
the surface again by this capillary attraction to supply the 
crops. The soil is charged with saline and other soluble 
plant food ; and as the water is everywhere diffused through 
the soil these fertilizing matters are spread through it, find- 
ing their way with the waters among the interstices between 
the smallest particles. As the soil is filled with water in 
wet weather, and the water sinks, it necessarily carries this 
saline matter w T ith it, but this is all brought back again as 
the surface dries and the moisture rises again in obedience 
to this natural law. Successive portions of water rise to the 
surface, evaporate into the air, or j)ass by transjDiration 
through the leaves of plants, leaving fertilizing matter be- 
hind them. Thus in the growing season a large supply of 
food for plants is brought up from below, within the reach 
of their roots, and diffused intimately through the soil, so 
that the finest fiber of the feeding roots is supplied, and as' 
this ascent of water and evaporation of it, go on all through 
the dry weather of the summer, the fertilizing matter accum- 
ulates in the surface soil about the roots of the crops and 
places within their reach an ample supply of every soluble 
substance which is existing in the soil. As one may make 
a fire and see the smoke ascend and become diffused 
throughout the atmosphere and disappear, but yet perceive 
its odor even at a long distance from the fire, so the fertiliz- 



NECESSITY FOR THOROUGH CULTURE. 137 

ing matter existing in the soil, or applied to it by the far- 
mer, spreads and diffuses itself among the particles of the 
soil and disappears from view, but its aliment is tasted by 
the plants, and absorbed by them and changed by the won- 
derful processes of natural chemistry into vegetable tissue 
and solid substance, which affords appropriate subsistence 
for animals. This capillary action and consequent process 
of diffusion in the soil is of the greatest importance and is 
intimately connected with the profitable culture of the crops. 
It goes on most effectively in thoroughly pulverized soil; hence 
the fanners business — understanding this process — is to use 
ihe best possible means, by thorough working with most effec- 
tive implements, to produce this necessary condition of his fields. 
All this goes on within the view of the farmer who gives 
liis mangel crop a dressing of salt, for which this crop has 
-a strong liking. The white covering of the soil quickly dis- 
appears ; being dissolved in the moisture and carried by 
diffusion everywhere through the soil. It may not be quite 
evenly spread on the surface but it is soon very evenly scat- 
tered through the soil and the rains carry it down into it. 
A chemist, by analysis, might detect it although it has dis- 
appeared to the eye, but as the surface soil is dried by the 
heat it will reappear in a white efflorescence on the ground 
where it is brought up by the evaporating water from below; 
and this crust is gradually increased in thickness by repeated 
accessions as each particle of water, brings up its load of the 
saline matter, and evaporating leaves it on the surface; from 
whence it is again carried down by the next rain to circu- 
late over again in the same manner. This diffusion of wat- 
er through the soil is precisely similar to that of the atmos- 
phere. The air circulates through the soil spaces by the 
force of expansion and contraction caused by the effects of 
heat and cold ; and the water circulates in precisely a simi- 
lar manner, by the same agency, and in hot dry climates 
this diffusion of moisture by capillary attraction going on 
without intermission, secures the safety of the crops and 
makes agriculture possible. In some of our Western States 
and Territories, this process may be seen going on now as 



138 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

it has been going on for ages, in the constant accretion of 
extensive beds of salt; borax; soda; and other saline sub- 
stances which have been deposited on the surface, by the 
long continued evaporation in the dry arid climate, of the 
water of the soil which has held them in solution. The 
niter beds of Peru and Chili, which are many feet in thick- 
ness have been deposited in the same manner ; the vastness 
of the accumulations showing the great amount of the evap- 
orations which have been going on. 

The contraction of the soil by drying is a property which 
is exerted in proportion to the power of absorbing water- 
Some soils, such as pure clays and peat diminish in bulk by 
drying, very considerably. A sample of compact black 
peat tested by the author, weighing 8 lbs. when taken from 
the swamp, shrank when perfectly dry to 1 pound in weight 
thus losing 87 \ per cent, of water, and to one half its bulk. 
Clay soil shrinks about 25 per cent, in its bulk in drying, 
while a sandy loam loses scarcely anything. The more 
clay or vegetable matter the soil contains the more it con- 
tracts, and the cracking of the surface thus occasioned is 
often seriously injurious to the roots of the crops; ruptur- 
ing the roots as the fissures open. A strong clay soil has 
been known to be fissured in this manner down to the 
drains at a depth of four feet, so that the next rain poured 
down into the drains in floods without soaking the surface. 
This property of clay land is one of its disadvantages which 
should be noted and should encourage its improvement by 
a considerable admixture of vegetable matter which will 
add to its porosity and make it less subject to an injurious 
evaporation. 

The relation of the soil to the atmosphere, in regard to 
its physical properties, is apart of this subject which should 
not be neglected : for the power of absorbing gaseous sub- 
stances from the air is of great importance to the growth of 
crops. The absorption of oxygen by porous substances has 
already been referred to, and the more porous soils exert 
this power to the largest extent. A supply of oxygen is 
required for the germination of a seed as well as for the 



ABSORPTION OF GASES BY THE SOIL. 139 

growth of a plant. It is of consequence to the farmer 
therefore that this oxygen should gain access to every part 
of the soil and thus to the seed and the roots of the plants. 
This easy acccess is of course facilitated artificially by the 
perfect working of the land and making it as porous as pos- 
sible. But there are some soils which absorb oxygen with 
more rapidity and in larger quantity than others. Clays 
absorb more oxygen than sandy soils: and vegetable soils 
and peat more than clays. This is due in part to the natu- 
ral porosity of the soil and in part to its chemical composi- 
tion. Clay containing oxides of other minerals, for in- 
stance, absorbs oxygen which enters into combination with 
it, and decaying vegetable matter takes up much of it to 
assist in its decomposition. 

These remarks all apply to the power and natural ten- 
dency of soils to absorb carbonic acid from the atmosphere, 
together with the ammonia which rises from the earth from 
decaying matter, and nitric acid which may be formed in 
the air by electrical agency, and these contribute to some 
valuable extent to the natural fertility of the land, but neces- 
sarily in proportion to the power of absorption which is due 
to its condition of porosity. Nothing more positive than this, 
however can be asserted, because of the absence of satisfac- 
tory experiments in this direction as to the relative capa- 
bilities of soils to extract vegetable plant food from the at- 
mosphere ; but one fact has been clearly ascertained, viz: 
that all soils absorb gaseous substances of every kind most 
readily and in the greatest abundance when they are in a 
moist state. The rain fall, and the deposition of dew, as 
well as the condensation of moisture'' in the soil from the at- 
mosphere which circulates within it, will all, therefore, fa- 
vor this absorption of fertilizing gaseous matter ; and this 
will be greatest in those soils which naturally possess this 
power in the greatest degree ; and when the artificial con- 
dition of the soil, produced by thorough culture and pul- 
verization, assists its natural proclivities most effectively. 

The power of absorption of the suns heat is another ex- 
ceedingly important property of soils and this also varies 



140 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

with the character of the land. It has been found that the 
surface of the earth acquires a much higher temperature 
when the rays of the sun beat down upon it, than the sur- 
rounding air. A temperature of 110 or 120 degrees is quite 
commonly acquired; while at times it rises to 150 ; while the 
air is no warmer than 70 or 80 degrees in the shade. Thus 
the soil is provided with a supply of heat which is of the 
greatest importance to the growing crops: especially to 
those subtropical plants, such as corn, which delight in this 
genial warmth. Every farmer knows how his corn shoots 
up in its growth on those warm moist nights, following hot 
days, when the accumulated heat of the soil is retained, and 
intensifies those chemical agencies which change the plant 
food in the soil into vegetable tissue and thus force the sur- 
prising growth which is noticed under such favorable cir- 
cumstances. A corn plant has been known to increase in 
height nearly 2 inches in the 8 hours between the light of 
two days in August, at a season when the growth is most 
luxuriant. 

This power of absorbing heat depends upon the color as 
well as the texture of the soil. Every one knows how the 
suns heat is absorbed by dark colored clothes, and that it is 
for this reason that light colored clothing is worn in the 
summer ; also how 7 a black kettle w 7 ill heat water over a fire 
more quickly than a bright one. In the same way and for 
the same reason a dark colored soil absorbs very much more 
heat than a light colored one, and hence the vegetation upon 
dark soils will be more luxuriant than upon light ones. 
The black prairie soils of the Western States produce more 
and better corn for this reason than the white or grey soils 
of other localities, and when light sandy soils are darkened 
in color by a liberal admixture of peat compost, they are 
improved very considerably. 

This pow T er of absorbing heat possessed by dark colored 
soils, however, is not accompanied by a corresponding te- 
nacity or power of retaining heat ; for black peaty soils will 
cool as much in one hour after night fall as a light sandy 
or clay soil will in three. This difference how r ever does not 



EFFECTS OF GOOD CULTURE. 141 

operate wholly to the disadvantage of the dark soils, for as 
the cooling progresses most rapidly the dew is deposited 
with equal facility ;. and it is doubtful if this accession of 
moisture may not be of greater benefit to a parched soil 
than the longer retention of the warmth might be. Besides 
as the dark soils become heated more abundantly than oth- 
ers, they can better spare their excess of heat than lighter 
soils can, and yet have an abundance remaining for every 
need of the crops. 

Such then are, in the main, the most important physical 
properties of the soil. Over much of them the intelligent 
farmer has easy and effective control as will be explained in 
a future chapter. He can drain land that is excessively wet 
or which is sealed beloAv by an impermeable subsoil and thus 
open it to the beneficent influence of the vitalizing atmos- 
phere with all its burden of fertilizing agencies; and to the 
vivifying influence of the suns heat. He can plow and pul- 
verize it and make it more open and porous and so give ef- 
fect to its chemical influences over such organic matter as it 
may contain as will more quickly prepare it for the aliment 
of the crops. He can stiffen and darken the lighter sandy 
soils and loosen and soften the heavier clay, by mixing com- 
posts or manure with them and thus make either more val- 
uable for his purposes. 

But while the physical properties of the soil have much 
to do with its productive power, these are only secondary 
and helpful to its primary condition of fertility- It maybe 
neither too heavy nor too light; too wet nor too dry; too 
cold nor too warm; too fine nor too coarse; too high nor 
too low ; may be situated in the most propitious climate; 
and consist of a well proportioned mixture of sand and clay; 
contain an average quantity of vegetable matter and have 
every benefit of a warm and favoring locality ; and yet it 
may disappoint the expectations of the farmer or be wholly 
barren. The want of one of the indispensable elements of 
plant food in it may forbid the growth of one spear of grass, 
and make of it a barren waste. Therefore the physical prop- 
erties of the soil are only accessory to its chemical consti- 



142 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

tution; and make available its natural fertility without add- 
ing to it. 

But the study of these physical properties of soils is not 
without an important practical value. For a farm may 
have a fertile soil and be endowed with an abundance of 
fit food for crops. It may have every provision for this val- 
uable use, and yet its condition may be such that only the 
lowest and most useless plants can support themselves upon 
it. It may produce reeds and rushes; sour unwholesome 
sedges; useless moses and ferns, and weeds which are wholly 
valueless for the support of animals, and yet the skillful 
farmer knowing the principles which relate to the physical 
properties of soils, may take such an undesirable farm and 
by a judicious course of improvement may make a garden of 
it, and wring from it the hidden stores of wealth which lie 
within it. But to do this he must recognize and understand 
what the functions of the soil are ; that these are of two kinds 
and each of these are distinct and separate but important 
and necessary to the growth of plants. These are 

, First. — To uphold and sustain the plant and afford it a 
safe and secure anchorage. 

Second. — To absorb air, water and heat and retain these 
for the promotion of the growth of crops. 

These are its mechanical and physical functions. 

Third. — To supply to plants food of whatever kinds may 
be required for the profitable growth of crops. 

Fourth. — To give effect to all those chemical changes 
which are required to produce the changes in the various 
elements of this food by which they are prepared for admis- 
sion into the roots and circulation of plants. 

These functions of the soil are performed in a very inade- 
quate manner by nature, and while nature contributes the 
materials, and the forces by which the materials may be 
made available, yet the use and direction of these are left 
to mankind, whose labor gives effect to them. And all the 
operations of the farmer are intended to make these materi- 
als and forces available; to aid and assist in, and give full 
effect to, the performance of these functions of the soil by 



THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SOIL. 143 

all those methods which are included in the term "culture." 
The consideration of the questions which arise in a descrip- 
tion and discussion of these methods by which the culture 
of farm crops is made effective and profitable will be taken 
up in the following chapters. 



THE CULTURE OF FAKM CROPS. 



PART THIRD. 

CHAPTER XXI. 
THE EXHAUSTION OF THE SOIL. 

The soil may be compared to a manufactory, to which is 
attached a storehouse for the keeping of the raw materials 
which are from time to time worked up in the factory; and 
the manufactured products, which are made up. When in 
time of active business an excessive demand occurs for the 
finished goods beyond the power of the factory to supply 
them, the stock is exhausted ; and no more sales or deliver- 
ies can be made until the factory has had time to refurnish 
the store with a new stock. But if one needed material, 
wool; cotton ; dye stuff; oil for the machinery ; fuel for the 
furnace for driving the engine, or money to pay for the la- 
bor, is wanting, the work stops. There may be everything 
but a little oil even; or one single color in the dye house; 
yet everything must stop until this necessary article is sup- 
plied. The experienced owner and manager, however, 
makes it his business to see that every one of these needed 
articles are kept in stock ready for instant supply when 
called for. He keeps a stock book in which is entered all 
receipts and all expenditures of all these supplies, and he 
carefully looks over this book at stated times and notices 
how the consumption is going on, that a fresh stock may be 
laid in before the old is exhausted and work might be stop- 
ped for want of some one little thing. 

This is precisely what the farmer should do and must do 
for the most successful culture of his crops. He has a store 
of raw materials in his soil, and nature carries on there a 
manufactory in which these raw materials are used for the 



AMOUNT OF PLANT FOOD IN THE SOIL. 145 

production of crops. Nothing is or can be taken from the 
soil unless from the materials Avhich are stored in it, or are 
added to it from time to time as the store is drawn upon. 
The store consists of those elements of plant growth which 
have been previously described, and which, as may be seen 
by the figures which represent their various proportions, 
(given below) exist in definite and known quantities. They 
are therefore far from inexhaustible, and all the more so,, 
that only a very small quantity of the most valuable of them 
exists in an available condition. If a farmer should be led 
to think otherwise and hope to grow 7 crops until the entire 
stores are used up, he will be quickly undeceived by the ear- 
ly and rapid lessening of the yield, until in time only puny 
weak plants are grown, having not enough of vigor and' 
strength to produce a seed. Then the soil is exhausted, or as; 
he says it is worn out; run down and impoverished; and the 
supply of raw material having given out, the manufactory is 
obliged to stop until the stock is replenished. 

The amount of plant food in an acre of good arable 
soil 9 inches deep, which is equal to about 3,000,000 lbs. 
when dry, is shown in the following table : 

COMPOSITION OF A FERTILE SOIL, 9 INCHES DEEP OVER 

ONE ACRE. 

Silica 2.308.700 pounds. 

Alumina 255.000 " 

Oxide of iron 132.000 " 

Lime 60.900 •« 

Magnesia 79.800 " 

Potash 34.200 " 

Soda 36.200 " 

Phosphoric acid 19.500 " 

Sulphuric acid 1.830 " 

Chlorine 1.800 " 

Organic matter 70.000 " 

2.999.930 " 

There are fertile soils which do not contain more than a 
tenth part of the above quantities of lime, soda, potash, and 
phosphoric acid; and it must be remembered that it is not 
so much the total absolute quantities of these elements, but 
their condition of availability; their solubility in fact; upon 



146 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

which the actual fertility of the soil depends. The compo- 
sition of a barren and unfruitful soil is given in the follow- 
ing table. 

COMPOSITION OF A BARREN SOIL EXHAUSTED OF SOME 

ELEMENTS, 9 INCHES DEEP OVER ONE ACRE. 

Silica and sand 2.333.400 pounds. 

Alumina 284.700 " 

Oxide of iron 174.000 " 

Oxide of manganese 3.150 " 

Lime 25.980 " 

Magnesia 21.840 " 

Potash trace only- 
Soda trace only 

Pho Q phoric acid 90 " 

Sulphuric acid trace only 

Carbonic acid 6.000 " 

Chlorine trace only 

Organic matter 150.840 " 

3.000.000 

The failure of this soil to produce crops is clearly due to 
the absence of potash, soda, sulphuric acid and chlorine, 
and the exceedingly small quantity of phosphoric acid, and 
which the abundance of other elements has no power to 
neutralize. 

The actually available amount of plant food of any fer- 
tile soil is exceedingly small. No more of any quantity, 
however large it may be, then is soluble in water can 
be absorbed by the roots of a plant; and it is rarely that 
any quantity that is soluble in water, can be discovered by 
the most delicate analysis, existing in 100 pounds of any 
soil. In analyzing soils the chemist uses acid solvents, but 
plants have the aid only of water, with a very small quan- 
tity of carbonic acid, to prepare their food for them. Con- 
sequently the exhaustion of the available plant food from 
an apparently inexhaustible soil is the work of only a very 
few years. Twenty years at the most, is the period during 
wiiich the fertile virgin soils of our forests or prairies will 
bear satisfactory crops unless they are manured and brought 
under a judicious rotation. 

The amount of organic and inorganic matter which is re- 
moved by the ordinary farm crops from an acre of soil is 
shown in the following table. 



YIELD AND COMPOSITION OF FARM CROPS. 



147 



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WHY SOILS BECOME EXHAUSTED. 149 

An inspection of the table above presented gives only a 
faint idea of the extent to which the elements of fertility 
are withdrawn from the soil in the regular course of crop- 
ping. If we figure up the amount of mineral matters car- 
ried off during the ordinary 4 course rotation of wheat, oats, 
corn, and clover for 2 years, on a well cultivated farm, we 
have the following results. 

Wheat Oats. Corn. 2 years Clover. Total. 

Nitrogen 45. 52. 56. 204. 357. lbs. 

Sulphur 7.8 8.0 14.7 18.8 49.3 

Potash 27.9 38.1 58.0 174.8 298.8 

Soda 3.4 7.3 2.0 8.2 20.9 

Lime 10.2 11.8 15.7 172.2 209.9 

Magnesia 7.7 9.2 12.3 01.8 91.0 

Phosphoric acid.... 22.7 18.9 25.1 50.2 116.9 

Chlorine 1.9 5.5 18.8 26.2 

Silica 111.1 94.1 54.5 13.6 273.3 

237.7 244.9 238.3 722.4 1443.3 

The amount thus taken from the soil in 5 years is very 
large, and considering that it is all derived from the stock 
of soluble plant food existing in the soil, it is no matter for 
surprise that 20 years of such cultivation should leave the 
soil destitute of fertility and unable to bear the same abun- 
dant crops. Indeed to such a condition of sterility have a 
large portion of the cultivated lands in New England and 
the Southern States been reduced by this process of exhaus- 
tive culture that a larger expense will be required for their 
restoration to even a moderate degree of fertility, than 
would be equal to their value when thus restored. No far- 
mer who lives by his mere labor, and who has not a large cap- 
ital to spend in fertilizers and a slow costly process of re- 
covery, can hope to do anything with these farms, many of 
which are abandoned to the slow process of recovery by nat- 
ural methods and the gradual accretion of carbon and 
nitrogen from the sparse contributions of the atmosphere, 
which may sustain a thin growth of weeds and humble 
plants during a long series of years, the remains of wdiieh 
may in time gather a sufficient provision for a new culture. 

It has been explained that some of the mineral constitu- 
ents of a fertile soil exist in sufficient abundance for all the 
requirements of cultivated crops for all time. Alumina and 



150 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

silica however are the only parts of the soil which are thus 
"bountifully provided by nature. Every one of the others, 
even lime, of which 30 tons per acre are contained in many 
soils — and in some there is much more than this — is quite 
rapidly exhausted, so far as the requirements of a full crop 
are concerned, by a few crops; for although there may be 
many tons of lime still remaining in the soil only a small 
quantity of it is available because it is soluble in water to 
a very small extent. The same is true of the potash ; soda ; 
phosphoric acid; and magnesia; all indispensably necessary 
to the crops as has been shown above. 

A small quantity of all these elements of plant food is 
dissolved in the soil by the rain water, aided by the carbon- 
ic acid which (as has been previously explained) the water 
holds in solution. The quantity so set free in the soil is the 
measure of its natural fertility: just as the 7 to 10 pounds 
of nitrogen which is known to be contributed by the at- 
mosphere in the form of ammonia and nitric acid, and the 
few pounds of carbon supplied by the carbonic acid which 
is also derived from the atmosphere, are the measure of 
the natural resources of the soil in these respects. This 
natural fertility is able to support the common spontaneous 
growth of soil which contains no accumulated stock de- 
rived from the decay of previous crops. If the soil dug 
from a deep well is thrown out on the surface and sown 
with seeds and cultivated, the yield would represent pre- 
cisely this natural fertility. A very poor growth would be 
the result. If the precise quantity of all the available ele- 
ments of plant growth in such a soil could be ascertained 
and the amount deducted from the known quantities drawn 
from the cultivated soil by a full crop, we could then cal- 
culate with reasonable exactness what the soil loses each 
year, and what the farmer must supply to it to prevent its 
final exhaustion and preserve it in a fully fertile condition. 
But there are so many accidents of season, and other 
circumstances, which interfere with the growth of the crops, 
that the farmer could not safely depend upon such a cal- 
culation. To be safe, he must leave a very liberal margin 



VARIATION IN THE CHARACTER OF PLANTS. 151 

to cover these risks; and on the whole he will not feel safe 
until he supplies to his fields at least as much as, and if 
possible more than the crops draw from them, and not 
only retain the original stock of fertility and accumulate 
each year the contributions of the atmosphere, but keep 
adding to these, either by direct additions in the shape of 
manures, or of green crops or other vegetable matter 
plowed in, or procure some additional matter from the soil 
through the agency of tillage. 

It is a frequent supposition that crops of different kinds 
are constant and unchangeable in regard to their constitu- 
ents and the quantities of the various elements they draw 
from the soil. And while it has been stated as a rule, that 
these drafts made upon the soil are in so great a measure 
constant and regular that they are typical of the various 
crops grown, yet within narrow limits, a certain variation 
is found to exist which is the result of distinct differences 
in soils. Every farmer has known in his own personal ex- 
perience, or through the experience of others, that any par- 
ticular crop, as wheat, varies in character according to the 
nature of the soil. That upon soils of a silicious or sandy 
character with an abundance of lime in it, the wheat has a 
bright clean thin husk and a stiff bright clean straw, while 
upon other soils containing a large quantity of organic 
matter and being deficient in silica and lime, the grain has 
a soft thick husk, a very weak chaff, and straw that is not 
able to bear the weight of the ear and lodges very easily. 
Similar differences have been experienced in regard to 
other crops ; oats ; barley and potatoes ; and even with for- 
est trees and nlany other plants and their fruits. Wheat 
straw has been known to vary so much in this respect that 
various samples of 100 lbs. of it grown upon different soils, 
have contained 3J lbs. ; 4? lbs. 6? lbs. 15£ lbs. and 161 lbs. 
of ash, varying with each particular soil. Where the ash 
was the heaviest the soil consisted of a limestone gravel; 
while the straw with the lightest ash was on reclaimed 
swamp land. 

The same variations are well known to occur on the same 



152 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

farm in different fields where the soil varies much in char- 
acter; and there is no crop that is grown which is not sub- 
ject to modification in this respect. Even the amount of 
organic matter in plants is affected by the differences of 
soils; for some lands produce wheat much richer in gluten 
than other kinds, and much above the average quantity 
contained in this grain, and thus draw from the soil a lar- 
ger quantity of nitrogen in which gluten is exceptionally 
rich. Sweet corn is much richer in sugar, as is also sugar- 
cane when grown upon lands rich in carbon, while pota- 
toes grown upon reclaimed — but well drained and dry- 
swamp lands, rich in the same element, contain the largest 
proportion of starch; and onions grown upon the same soil 
yield far more abundantly. 

These instances tend to show that the exhaustion of the 
soil is not an element in the culture of crops that can be 
figured out with precision, as is pretended by some persons, 
and that it is therefore exceedingly unsafe and unw T ise for 
the farmer to run close to the limits indicated by the fig- 
ures. He must provide sufficiently for the demands of his 
crops, as shown by the tables previously given, without de- 
pending to any large extent upon the store which he has 
reason to believe exists in the soil, and thus maintain a 
large balance in hand to serve in cases of any possible and 
unexpected exigencies. 

To sum up the interesting considerations which present 
themselves in this regard, it may be stated ; 

First. — That plants appropriate from the soil varying 
quantities of inorganic, or ash, substances, as their age and 
condition of growth may vary ; and that the different parts 
of the plant draw from the soil, some more, and some less 
of these substances than others. 

Second. — That if the substances necessary for the growth 
and perfection of one part of a plant more than another, 
abound in any soil, the crop w T ill be chiefly developed in 
that direction; one will run to straw, another to leaf and so 
on; but as long as the crop can find food in the soil, it will 
take it if only partially. 



RELATION OF CROP GROWTH TO EXHAUSTION. 153 

Third. — Some substances appear to enter into the circu- 
lation of plants, not so much as actual and necessary con- 
stituents but more as agents by which other compounds 
may be conveyed into them. Salt for instance appears to 
enter into the substance of plants chiefly for supplying 
chlorine in some cases, and soda in others. In such cases 
when these substances are found to exert any marked ef- 
fect upon the vegetation, it is to be concluded that the soil 
is deficient in them, and that their use necessarily causes a 
larger draft upon the soil for other kinds of plant food to 
supply the larger growth of the crops. 

Fourth. — That while the soil may contain a very large 
quantity of the substances required for the growth of vege- 
tation, yet the most of these may be in an unavailable con- 
dition for the use of the crops. 

Fifth. — That every soil possesses a certain amount of 
natural fertility? which has been accumulated during past 
ages, and that this stock is exhausted in a comparatively 
few years, and during this time it will produce full crops 
in proportion to the amount of plant food which it con- 
tains. 

Sixth. — That when this store of accumulated fertility is 
exhausted, or any one element of it, the crops fail and final- 
ly refuse to grow. 

Seventh. — That the soil then is able to afford a certain 
amount of plant food, which is derived from its natural re- 
sources; and that these consist of certain contributions from 
the atmosphere and from the mineral compounds which ex- 
ist in the soil : but these are wholly inadequate for the pro- 
duction of crops. 

Eighth. — That when the soil has been reduced to this low 
condition of natural fertility, the farmer is obliged to sup- 
ply an adequate amount of available plant food for the 
growth of crops, in the form of manures, composts, or fer- 
tilizers. 

Ninth. — That it is not safe for the farmer to depend 
wholly upon the analyses of the various crops as to the 
amount of plant food required by them; but should supply 



154 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

a surplus in the form of manures or fertilizers so that the 
soil may be kept in a constantly fertile condition. 

Tenth. — That thorough culture and pulverization of the 
soil, are indispensable for the development of the plant 
food contained in it. 



IMPROVEMENT OF SOILS. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL BY MECHANICAL 

METHODS. 

The facts given in preceding chapters afford indubitable 
proof that the natural capacity of the soil for the produc- 
tion of farm crops varies so considerably, that the ability 
of the farmer to grow them profitably is at times very much 
restrained. Every soil encourages by its natural condition, 
a kind of vegetation best suited to it, and is unable to pro- 
duce anything different or better until this natural condi- 
tion is changed. A knowledge of the laws of vegetable 
growth, and of the nature of the organic and inorganic ele- 
ments of it, with the obstacles to the development of these 
into food for plants, which exist by reason of the unfavor- 
able physical conditions of the soil, will enable the farmer 
to take such means as will overcome and remove these ob- 
stacles and enable the soil to entirely change the character 
of its products. 

The farmer can change the character of the land itself; 
he can alter its physical condition, and its chemical consti- 
tution; and can thus fit it for growing other species of plants 
than it naturally bears, or if he chooses, can cause the land 
to produce these with greater luxuriance and in more prof- 
itable quantity. It is in fact the production of these chan- 
ges by the exertion of rightly directed labor and skillful 
management which constitutes the whole art of agriculture, 
and the laws which control and make possible these changes, 
comprise the whole science of this art. 

To attain these desirable ends the farmer may drain the 
wet lands; irrigate dry lands; lighten heavy clays by deep 
plowing and subsoiling, and the addition of lime, composts, 
sand, or peat; consolidate light sandy soils by similar 
methods ; darken the color of light soils by adding composts of 



156 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

swamp muck; and by any other means consistent with his 
opportunities to remove the difficulties which stand in the 
way of the most productive culture of crops. 

An excess of water in the land is hurtful iu several ways. 
The roots of plants are drowned in it and perish for want 
of the needed air and oxygen ; for where water is air cannot 
go, and where it comes the lighter air is driven out. Plants 
are starved, because the abundance of water so weakens the 
solutions of plant food, and presents this to the roots so 
much overcharged with water, that the plants are unable 
to pass the large quantity which is necessary to supply the 
requisite solid nutriment, through their leaves, and they 
perish for Avant of aliment. 

The soil is cooled by the excessive evaporation and made 
incapable of growing crops for the w T ant of sufficient heat to 
nourish them and by which the necessary circulation of air in 
the soil is produced. The warmth of the sun cannot pene- 
trate a wet soil, however ardently its beams may descend 
upon it; for heat cannot penetrate w T ater from the surface. 
A fire may be built upon ice and will melt it only very slow- 
ly; while if a stratum of boiling water is carefully poured 
upon the top of a quantity of cold water or ice, the heat 
will penetrate only to a very little depth. And if the heat 
of the sun should warm the surface of the soil and set in 
action the consequent evaporation, this will immediately 
convey away the heat as fast as it is absorbed, and the soil 
will remain cold below, where the roots of plants must find 
room to push their fibers. 

The excessive water soon becomes charged with injuri- 
ous acids produced by the decomposition of the organic 
matter, and these are deadly in their effects upon vegeta- 
tion. The oxygen which is required for the change of this 
decomposing matter into plant food being denied entrance 
into the soil, no aliment is prepared for the plants; but in- 
stead of food, matter which is injurious is offered and there 
can be no healthy or useful vegetation. 

But when the first step for the improvement of a wet soil 
is taken, all this is changed. The drains carry off the stag- 



BENEFITS FROM DRAINAGE. 157 

nant water, and give a ready escape for all that may rise 
from springs, or which falls in the rains. A flowing current 
is at once established and life and health at once take the 
place of the unwholesome effects and death, which accom- 
panied the stagnant water. The active current brings in 
oxygen and carbonic acid which is given up to the soil; 
the atmosphere takes the place of the withdrawn water and 
the heat of the sun enters the now porous soil and starts the 
active circulation within it, which represent precisely, but 
in a minute way the air currents above the earths surface, 
which we call winds; but which are caused and controlled 
by the same changes of temperature which occur in the 
dried soil. Every operation of nature which inures for 
the encouragement of plant growth is now actively at work 
in the soil, and the production of plant food goes on with- 
out hindrance. The soil, solid and compact before, is now 
open, loose, porous and friable; the frosts pulverize it; the 
just sufficient water dissolves it; the acids are oxidized, or 
neutralized by the alkaline solutions which ebb and flow 
through it; and the farmer no longer delayed when the sea- 
sons work presses is able to plow and plant in due time. 
Every shower then refreshes and fertilizes the land; brings 
down w T ith it useful substances from the atmosphere, which 
are absorbed at once by the soil, instead of being wasted 
and washed away, as they were when the surface of the 
land was saturated and flooded ; and at the same time it re- 
news the air within the soil, causing fresh accessions of such 
plant food which the air may supply. Moreover this mode 
of improvement of the soil is equivalent to a considerable 
deepening of it, for it opens it to the plow and permits the 
roots to forage to a depth as far down as the drains are 
placed. It thus enables the farmer to vary his crops and 
grow such kinds as he may wish and which will be most 
profitable to him. 

Lastly the farmer who drains his wet fields, confers a 
benefit upon the locality in which he lives. The greatest pest 
of the American farmer and to his cattle as well, is the ever 
prevailing miasma which rises from stagnant water, below,, 



158 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

■as well as above the surface of the soil, and which is known 
by the common term malaria. This miserable disease which 
makes the life of the American citizen uncomfortable and 
wretched the greater part of the year, is bred in swamps 
and undrained lands; and when these are improved and 
freed from the constantly evaporating water, the pestilence 
is laid and health is restored. The chilling dampness which 
loads the air with poisonous gases no longer rises in foul va- 
pors from the land ; and the air becomes pure and health- 
ful. The farmer thus confers a blessing upon his neigh- 
bors, while he improves his own circumstances, and thus af- 
fords a new proof of the fact that he who helps himself helps 
the world, and that no man works for himself alone; much 
less the farmer, whose vocation makes him the feeder and 
clother of mankind. 

The practice of irrigation is the converse of draining. It 
consists in bringing water from distant streams or other 
sources, by means of canals and ditches, and spreading it 
over lands where the rainfall is not sufficient for the growth 
of crops, or in many cases where the ordinary climate pre- 
vails, water from adjacent streams or springs is brought 
and spread over lower lands which are laid down in grass 
and are kept in permanent meadow. No other country in 
the world, than ours, offers such a vast scope for the im- 
provement of lands by this means. Millions of acres of land 
unsurpassingly rich in all the elements of plant growth want 
only water to make them fruitful and productive of all the 
varied farm crops; and by means of this mode of improve- 
ment millions of farmers may find homes and a comfortable 
subsistence and furnish great wealth to the community, 
where now desolation and solitude prevail. At the same 
time many farmers, whose grass crops are cut off and whose 
winters supply of hay is greatly reduced by drouth have an 
abundance of water running to waste upon their farms by 
the use of which the yield of grass and hay might be doubled. 
Comparative poverty might thus be turned to actual wealth 
by the mere employment of water at a little cost, which 
now flows away uselessly, or perhaps spreads out injurious- 



VALUE OF IRRIGATION. 159 

ly into a pestilential swamp. Grass is the grand crop of 
the farm. It is the pivot of our agriculture. It supports 
all our live stock in one way or another, and is the very 
basis of our agricultural prosperity. No farmer ever yet had 
too much of it : and very many are constantly mourning 
over the scarcity of it. A large proportion of these have 
the power in their own hands to double the product of it; 
by merely conducting such streams, as may be so carried, 
over the land and spreading the water upon the grass. 
Water-meadows exist in Europe which have been pro- 
ducing green forage and hay for centuries, without any ma- 
nure and no labor except cutting the grass. The growth is 
snormous. One inch per day during the summer, or 120 
inches in the aggregate, has been cut from the Rye Grass 
meadows of Italy; and in England 6 tons of hay per acre 
is a common yearly product. The water of the streams 
•comes loaded with fertilizing matter which keeps the land 
increasing in productiveness notwithstanding the large 
product. 

The largest crops of grain and vegetables on record are 
now produced in Colorado and some Western Territories, 
where 10 years ago not a blade of grass grew and no civi- 
lized human inhabitant had a home. The prevailing sage 
brush and cactus gave a somber and dreary view to the 
broad plains, and the wolf chased its prey among the brush, 
where now the self-binding reaper sings its clattering songs 
and scatters the golden sheaves; and villages and surround- 
ing homesteads cover the land. All this is the grand trans- 
formation worked by the fairy water; one wave of the mag- 
ic wand, and the stream flows to one side and scatters it- 
self through thousands of channels amid the smiling ver- 
dure which has sprung up from the arid barren soil at the 
touch of the creative, life giving fluid. The fairy is hu- 
man industry and enterprise and the magic wand is human 
labor. In another chapter, this subject will be further 
treated, and some few practical directions given, so far as 
space will permit, for the practice of this most profitable 
method of improving soils. 



160 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

Plowing and subsoiling for the improvement of lands is 
a practice which has been but little practiced, and much 
less understood and appreciated in America. The practice 
has been in use for several centuries in Europe where farm 
land bears a higher value than it has here. But our cheap 
lands are now nearly exhausted and it no longer pays to 
make a farm, ruin it by wasteful culture, and then abandon 
it to sterility and weeds, and seek a new one which will be 
treated in the same manner. With a rapidly increasing 
population, the division of the land among the citizens has 
been nearly completed and the far distant territories do 
not offer sufficient inducements for young farmers to go 
through the wasteful practices of their parents. A few 
years ago this book would have been a premature work; 
but now that the best culture of farms and the most profit- 
able culture of farm crops are the only ways to success in 
gaining a comfortable subsistence. Every known and possi- 
ble method of improving the land and increasing its pro- 
ductiveness, and every means for study and for acquiring 
information leading to these desirable ends, become of the 
greatest interest to farmers. 

Hence practices and operations which would not be 
thought of or undertaken a few years ago, now become in- 
dispensably necessary, and what has been done in older 
countries is to be studied and repeated with such improve- 
ments as better knowledge and larger experience may make 
possible. Plowing is a most important part of the farmers 
art, but it has been scarcely studied at all, and has been 
very imperfectly practiced hitherto by American farmers. 
The plow has been used, not for the permanent improve- 
ment of the soil, but merely to loosen it sufficiently to make 
a bed for the seed and to cover up the debris of the preced- 
ing crop. Mechanics and inventors have spent much thought 
and study upon the perfection of plows and other imple- 
ments of tillage ; and no other country has such a diversity 
of excellent plows as ours; but the farmers have certain- 
ly been neglectful of their opportunities and advantages in 
regard to the use of the plow in improving their lands. 



IMPORTANCE OF GOOD PLOWING. 161 

Very few farmers ever plow a field twice in preparation for 
a crop and it is nothing uncommon to see the land a mass 
of hard clods, which the farmer is vainly endeavoring to 
break down by the use of the spike tooth harrow or the rol- 
ler, into a fit condition for the reception of the seed. 

The soil is quite as rarely ever plowed to a sufficient 
depth and nothing is feared so much by American farmers 
as permitting the plow to run an inch or two more deeply 
than usual or to turn up "the yellow clay" to the surface. 
All this is an injury to the soil. The passage of a plow 
back and forth over the same bottom of a furrow for sever- 
al years hardens it makes it tough and compact, and im- 
permeable to air and water; and really reduces the depth 
of the soil from which plants can procure their food to the 
few inches which the shallow imperfect plowing turns over- 
Nor is the plowing even. The plowman is not instructed 
in the art of holding or guiding the plow, nor in the neces- 
sity for keeping the furrow of even depth and width, and 
of avoiding balks by which the plow is thrown out and a 
portion of the soil is left wholly unturned. In many parts 
of the Southern States the soil is not even turned, but is 
merely torn by the common bull tongue which leaves the 
soil only scratched in lines and a large part of it is not 
touched. In the great states of Ohio; Indiana; Illinois; 
and others ; wheat is sown upon the corn stubble and simply 
covered by a harrowing and this with a most ineffective 
implement. The soil is not turned and is not pulverized. 
From what has been said in previous chapters this sort of 
culture is seen to be wholly ineffective for its intended pur- 
pose, and is utterly useless as a method for improving the 
soil after it has been exhausted and wasted by this treat- 
ment. 

The plow is constructed for the purpose of cutting loose 
and turning over a portion of the soil, having a cross sec- 
tion of 5 x 7 inches up to 7 to 10 or more; depending upon 
circumstances. American plows are made with shorter and 
more curved mold boards so as to break up the furrow slice 
by bending it at a short and sharp angle and are exceed- 



1G2 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

ingly effective for the purpose of breaking up the ground. 
But for the improvement of the land and for increasing its 
fertility one plowing alone is quite insufficient. The soil 
should be broken up and pulverized thoroughly all over 
the field, and the sub-surface over which the horses have 
trodden and which the sole of the plow has rubbed and 
hardened and made solid and impermeable, should be 
broken up and opened to the admission of water and air. 
Several plowings should be given. A wheat crop should 
never be put in without at least two plowings and the land 
for a corn crop should be thoroughly well and deeply 
plowed in the fall. Plowing at this season for a spring 
crop is a most effective way of improving the land. The 
land roughly thrown up in ridges is left with as much sur- 
face as possible exposed to the frost, that the soil may be 
pulverized and made fine and mellow. A winters expo- 
sure in this way will liberate much mineral plant food by 
disintegrating the soil and bringing it in larger part into a 
soluble condition. The newer soil brought up by the fall 
plowing is thus brought under the free action of the atmos- 
phere, and aided by the effects of the frost, this develops 
the plant food in it and makes it available for the crops. A 
•consideration of the principles discussed in previous chap- 
ters which relate to the relation of the atmosphere, water, 
and heat and cold, to the soil ; with a knowledge of the 
precise purposes for which the plow is intended ; will en- 
able any thoughtful farmer to work out the requisite 
methods for improving his land by plowing, for himself. 

Subsoil plowing, has been a bugbear to many farmers be- 
cause the practice of it has been mistaken. It is commonly 
supposed that this term, means the use of one plow behind 
another in the same furrow, for the purpose of turning up 
8 or 10 inches more soil on the top of the first turned over. 
This is not intended and would result in a permanent injury 
to the land. All that the subsoil-plow should do, is to fol- 
low the first plow and break up the sub-surface and the 
hard crust left by previous surface plowings. This hard 
crust seals the lower soil against the entrance of air and 



THE GROWTH OF THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. 163 

water, and offers an obstacle to the deeper penetration of 
the roots of crops. 

The presence of oxygen is indispensable in the soil wher- 
ever the roots of plants may go. It is — or should be — obvious 
to the intelligent reader that the more of the soil that can 
be occupied by the roots of a crop, the better for the crop, 
for it extends the feeding ground. It is something like 
opening a second field, by removing a fence, and throwing it 
open to a herd of cows or a flock of sheep. It increases the 
food supply proportionately, and as plant food is always be- 
ing carried down into the lower soil by the water, the far- 
mers desire should be to give the roots of his crops the ut- 
most facility for extending themselves in their search for 
food. Roots are very enterprising in this way, and farmers 
cannot do better than take a lesson from the instincts of the 
plants which they cultivate. Wheat, which is considered 
a shallow rooted plant, has been known to send its roots 
down 8 feet into the subsoil. The author has traced the 
roots of corn in a deep washout nearly 10 feet from the sur- 
face; clover sends its roots down 10 or 12 feet; lucern — a 
most eager feeder and consequently exceedingly productive 
— has been known to extend its roots 18 feet dow r n into the 
subsoil. Common grass roots often go down 3 or 4 feet in the 
soil where inducements in the shape of available food are 
given. No doubt these are exceptional cases, but they 
show what plants will do in their search for food, and in 
every case these deep rooted plants are the most vigorous in 
growth, proving that their purpose in sending down their 
roots was successful. Where these roots went there were 
air, and oxygen, and carbonic acid with it; and had not 
the soil been porous and accessible to these nutritious gases 
the roots could not have penetrated into it. It is not nec- 
essary to break up the soil to this depth ; all that is needed 
is to break up the crust under the surface, by running the 
subsoil plow a sufficient depth under the first furrow, to let 
in the air and open a way for the rains to enter freely, and 
to permit both air and water to pass and repass, under the 
influences of heat, and expansion and contraction, with the 



164 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

most perfect freedom. 

Deep surface plowing should be done gradually. It is 
not wise to bring up a subsoil until the air has had time to 
act upon it, All soils, as we have seen, contain sulphuric 
acid and iron, and the combination of these substances form 
a most noxious substance viz, sulphate of iron or copperas. 
This is frequently found in subsoils to which air has not 
penetrated and when the roots of plants touch it, the crop 
sickens, turns yellow and perishes. By the admission of 
air, with its oxygen, this noxious compound is decomposed; 
the sulphuric acid is divorced from the iron, and is set free 
to be appropriated by the crops in other and useful forms, 
and the iron unites with the oxygen forming a useful sub- 
stance — oxide of iron — which enters to a small extent into 
all vegetable growth. For this and other reasons of like 
import the subsoil should be broken up by the subsoil plow ; 
but the subsoil should be brought to the surface only as it 
has been acted upon by the atmosphere and by the manure. 
A soil may be plowed as deeply as it is occupied by plant 
food and new soil may be gradually mixed with this by 
gradual deeper plowing. An inch a year, brought up in 
the fall, and left to the influences of the air and weather 
and then mixed with the other soil on the surface, may be 
safely and usefully added to the depth of the cultivated 
soil, until 8 or 10 inches has been enriched and fitted for 
the aliment of plants. 

A farmer intent upon the improvement of his soil should 
not rest until he can safely plow the land to this depth. A 
table previously given shows how much fertilizing matter 
may be contained in 9 inches of arable soil over an acre. 
When the soil has been brought into this condition by me- 
chanical means, then the farmer may use all methods for 
making this vast store of plant food available. What might 
be the maximum yield of crops has never yet been ascer- 
tained. 240 bushels of grain corn per acre have been pro- 
duced: the author has grown 125 bushels per acre, and 99* 
bushels per acre over a whole field, more than once; and 80 
bushels frequently. 6 tons of timothy hay per acre has 



THE MAXIMUM PRODUCT OF THE SOIL. 165 

been gathered at one mowing : 80 bushels of wheat per 
acre has been produced and more has been claimed : 65 
bushels per acre has been commonly grown by the best 
English farmers in good seasons. 125 bushels of oats and 
80 of barley have been produced on favorable soils. 1329 
bushels of potatoes have been made per acre by one farmer 
by ordinary methods of culture : 600 bushels is a common 
yield in the rich potash and lime soils of the Southern 
mountain region. 75 bushels of buckwheat per acre has 
been grown by the Author, 80 tons of mangels has 
been produced in England and 1200 bushels per acre of 
this root have been grown as an ordinary crop. These are 
not to be supposed to be unsurpassable. No one knows what 
a fully fertilized soil may produce under every favoring cir- 
cumstance, but it is the business of the farmer to provide 
everything in the soil for as large a product as may be pos- 
sible and then to accept what a kind and favoring Provi- 
dence — ever ready to recompense honest effort, and sustain 
the industrious energetic faithful and conscientious worker 
— may enable him to secure. It is very certain that he who 
does not sow, will not reap, and it is equally certain that he 
who sows with pains will reap joyfully. 

It is scarcely necessary to extend these considerations to 
a greater length than to merely mention a few other me- 
chanical methods of improving the soil. The principles in- 
volved have been perhaps — and as we hope — made suffi- 
ciently clear. Heavy clay soils have been greatly bettered 
by a mixture of fine sand and gravel. As has been ex- 
plained the presence of silica in the soil exerts a beneficial 
effect upon all crops, but especially upon the grains. This 
process is not so costly as it- may seem. Where a supply of 
sand is conveniently situated 160 loads per acre or one to 
the square rod is spread in the winter on the fall plowed 
land, left in ridges and as rough as possible to get an even 
mixture. This may be done for $40 per acre if the work is 
hired ; but if in the season of leisure, the farmer and his 
workmen undertake it, the work may be done at a nomi- 
nal cost. Where 10 acres are to be sanded, it will greatly 



166 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

lessen the cost to lay a portable track of 2x4 timbers and 
nan a self dumping truck upon these rails. In this way 
farms have been sanded in Germany at a cost of $10 per 
acre and the outlay has been returned the first year by the 
increased crop. The land is plowed and cross plowed in 
the spring by which the sand becomes evenly mixed with 
the clay; the texture of which is very much improved. 

Sandy soils are equally improved by the admixture of 
decayed swamp muck. As this class of soils are usually 
well adapted for special cultures for which the addition of 
clay would partially unfit them, this operation is not recom- 
mended unless in special cases; but 100 or 200 loads per 
acre of peat composted with lime has been known to entire- 
ly change the appearance of the soil and to largely increase 
its ]i>roductiveness: As 100 tons of good peat free from 
sand or clay will contain 2000 to 4000 lbs. of nitrogen, this 
with the addition of lime in the porous soil, freely entered 
and occupied by the air, will enable the process of nitrifi- 
cation to go on with great rapidity, enriching the soil with 
nitrates to a large extent, and thus ensuring a great im- 
provement in the fertility of it. Perhaps — draining except- 
ed — there is no mode of mechanically improving soils that 
is so effective in increasing their value and productiveness 
as this. 

The addition of lime to peaty or heavy clay soils has the 
effect of removing most of the objections to them; but unless 
it is previously drained the labor is thrown away and inef- 
fective. Lime fits peaty soils for growing grain, but is 
greatly aided by a mixture of sand. A limed swamp 
meadow at once changes its product of grass, and if seed is 
sown, the better kinds of grass thrive excellently. The 
lime loosens and mellows heavy clay, and makes it less re- 
tentive of water and productive of better grain. This how- 
ever will be more fully treated of when the use of lime as a 
fertilizer is taken up in a future chapter. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF DRAINAGE. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

HOW TO DRAIN LAND. 

The manner of draining land necessarily depends upon 
several conditions such as the character of the soil; the 
amount of water; the manner in which the water exists in 
the soil or in which it arrives there, the kind of materials 
at hand ; the outlet for the water and others which may 
present themselves in any particular case. A few general 
principles however will enable the farmer to adapt his 
methods to his circumstances without difficulty. 

The soil. — Whenever, in early spring, the water appears 
on the' surface, or in the furrow after the plow, or remains 
upon the surface after rain and interferes with the cultiva- 
tion, the land requires drainage. It may be that the water can 
be carried off by open surface ditches; or that the sources 
of the water may be tapped by a few converging drains 
meeting in one main ditch by which the whole of the water 
may be carried off from the land. It may be on the other 
hand that the subsoil is full of springs which are supplied 
from distant sources and that in this case deep drains are 
necessary to cut off the water and carry it away. Or the 
soil may be of stiff impervious clay under the surface, or an 
impermeable hardpan prevents the surface water from pas- 
sing down and making its way from the land. All this 
must be studied and known before any work is done, lest a 
costly job of draining may be done unnecessarily or without 
useful effect. To learn this, it is proper that the subsoil 
should be examined by digging with the spade 3 or 4 feet 
deep. 

Springs, frequently fill a large area of low land with 
water, which flows under the surface and immediately upon 
a hard bed of clay or gravel hardpan. To understand 
clearly how this occurs, it may be well to explain the na- 
ture and action of springs. 



108 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

Water being a fluid seeks its level under all circumstanees, 
being forced to this level by its gravity or weight, and the 
extreme mobility of its particles among each other. It is 
clearly evident from common experience that water cannot 
be heaped up as sand or earth may be ; nor can hollows ex- 
ist in the surface of a body of it. If a barrel of it is set 
upon high ground and the contents are let out they will 
flow readily to any lower level; but the water cannot be 
made to flow up again of its own motion or gravity or 
weight. 

Now, when water falls in the form of rain upon high 
ground which is underlaid by clay or hardpan, it sinks 
down to this impervious stratum, and not being able to pass 
through it, it flows along its surface down to lower levels, 
until, gathering there in excessive quantities, or being arrest- 
ed in its flow by some obstacle, it makes its escape' to the 
surface by some easy way; through a bed of sand or gravel 
in the form of springs ; or it spreads through this open and 
permeable soil and forms swamps or fills the soil with stag- 
nant water at certain depths, less or greater as the case may 
be. When one digs down through the surface to this under 
current of flowing water and taps it, the water rises and 
makes a well, in which it maintains a height equal to the 
level of its source or nearly so. Thus a well is an artificial 
spring under these circumstances, but when the water flows 
into the well from the surrounding soil and does not rise 
from the bottom it is not a spring well but simply a cistern 
which is supplied from above by ordinary drainage. 

Remembering this fact, it is easily seen that when low 
land is saturated with Avater which comes from a higher 
level it may be effectually drained by. cutting a ditch to in- 
tercept it at the foot of the slope; and by carrying off this 
water to a convenient outlet the whole of the lower land 
may be freed from it in a very easy and economical manner. 
Ditches, required for drains should be 3 feet deep; but 
under certain circumstances this depth may be less or more. 
It has been already explained that soil has the property of 
capillary attraction by which water is raised above its level 



HOW DRAINS SHOULD BE MADE. 169 

in and among the spaces or interstices between the finer par- 
ticles of the soil. This necessarily has a close connection 
with the depth of the drains; and in this manner. 

If the level of the stagnant water, or the under current 
which flows from higher land, be, 1, 2, 3 or 4, feet below 
the surface and the drains are made at either of these depths, 
it will be clear that the water will flow in the drains; but 
that if the drains are 20, 30, 40, or 100 feet apart, the cap- 
illary attraction of the soil will cause the water to rise at 
the center line between the drains, to certain heights, vary- 
ing with the distance between the drains. Thus if the 
drains are 20 feet apart the tendency of the water to seek its 
level and flow into the drains will overcome the capillary 
attraction and the tendency of the water to rise in the soil, 
to a greater extent than if the drains were 30, 40, 50 or 100 
feet apart. Therefore the distance between the drains must 
be regulated by this property of the soil, the quantity of 
water which exists in the soil, and the character of the land 
in regard to its absorbent power and its ability to retain the 
water in its pores. In clay land or in peaty soil the drains 
would need to be closer than in open gravel or sandy loam 
soils, which are underlaid by clay or hard pan; and neces- 
sarily they should be made deep enough to reach and pass 
through this impervious water bed. 

Upon these principles it is not difficult to decide upon 
the depth of the drains and the distance between them to 
make them most effective. 

Open ditches should be made not less than 4 feet wide for 
3 ieet in depth, or 3 feet for 2 feet in depth ; and if the sur- 
face soil is open and porous and the water rises from the 
subsoil, a depth of 2 J or 3 feet will be sufficient. As a rule, ' 
the water flows into the drains from the bottom; the press- 
ure of the surface water, tending to force its way down- 
wards, causing the water to rise in the drains just as it does 
m the case of a spring or a well; as has been explained 
above. 

Ditches for covered drains need be made no wider than 
is required for the convenience of working in them and the 



170 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

depth may be from 2} to 3 feet; and very rarely more; as 
the case may require. 18 inches at the surface gives ample 
room for working in such a ditch; and (> inches is sufficient 
for the width at the bottom. In estimating the cost of dig- 
ging these ditches, the question should be considered, if 4 
feet ditches at 100 feet apart would not be cheaper than 3 
feet ditches 60 feet apart : the cost would be less certainly, 
for the labor of excavating 6 ditches 4 feet deep would be 
less than making 10 ditches 3 feet deep and the ground 
covered would be the same in either case. 

The material*, for making the drains in covered ditches 
are tiles, stones, gravel and wood; and each has its good and 
bad points. 

Tiles are pipes made of clay burned like brick in kilns. 
They are made of various diameters from one inch for the 
short lateral drains up to 6 or 8 inches for the main and 
outlet drains; and are about 15 inches long. They make 
the best and most lasting drain, when well made and laid 
with accuracy. They should be hard burned so as to ring 
when struck ; free from flaws ; straight, and smooth at the 
ends, so that they will make close joints and exclude sand 
or sediment which might choke them. The ditches should 
be finished to an even grade with a narrow scoop made for 
the purpose, which digs out a hollow the exact size of the 
tile and thus provides a bed for them in which they lie easi- 
ly and in a line, and may be placed quickly. To lay the 
tile the workman stands on the bank of the ditch (all the 
earth is thrown out on one side only, to give room for this 
work) and picks up each tile with a red provided with a 
straight projecting arm at the end, which is put into the tile; 
and lifting it into the ditch the workman places it in the 
hollow in line with the one before it, taking care that the 
joint is made close. The ditch should be wholly finished 
before the tiles are laid, and the work is begun at the upper 
part so that there is no possibility of anything being 
washed into the drains by the flowing water. 

By making the drains in this way there is no risk of 
making any mistake in any way, either in the grade or in 



MATERIALS FOR DRAINS. 171 

laying the tiles. As the tiles are laid they are covered 
with sufficient earth to protect them from injury by any 
accident, and the filling in of the ditches may be finished 
after the tiles are all laid. 

One inch tiles are sufficiently large for the lateral drains, 
unless these are longer than 500 or 600 feet, when the low- 
er part should be 1 1 inch. Drain tiles carry 4 times as 
much water for twice the diameter; (increasing in capacity 
as the square of the diameter, or the diameter multiplied 
by itself.) Thus a 2 inch tile carries as much water as 4 one 
inch tiles; 9 times as much for 3 times the diameter; 16 
times as much for 4 times the diameter and so on, thus in- 
creasing as the square of the diameter. If 16 one inch tiles 
are discharging to their full capacity, a 4 inch tile will 
take all the water ; but as an excess of water stops the flow 
and backs up the water, and favors the deposit of sediment, 
it is advisable to have the main and outlet pipes larger than 
is absolutely necessary so as to secure as rapid a discharge 
of the water as possible. 

Stones make an excellent and permanent drain when 
well laid. A clear channel is made by placing long nar- 
row stones along each side of the ditch and covering these 
with flat ones placed crosswise. These are covered with 
round stones packed closely, and these again with small 
and flat stone over which earth is thrown. This method 
is economical when the land is stony, and gets rid of stone 
cheaply and permanently. 

Gravel, may be used for making drains where it is 
abundant and near at hand. The drains in this case are 
made 6 inches wide at the bottom and are filled in with 
clean gravel 18 inches deep; over this the earth is filled in. 
The gravel should be clean and free from clay or sand 
which would be washed into the bottom of the drains and 
choke the flow of water. 

Wooden pipes may be used in draining marshes and quick- 
sand bottoms, with good effect. These are best made of 
hemlock boards — which are the most durable under water 
— 6 inches wide, and nailed together in the shape of a V ; 



172 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the top being made of strips nailed across, so as to form 
many crevices for the entrance of the water. By extend- 
ing the end of one board a foot past the end of the other 
the laps in the drain may be joined firmly. These drains 
are placed with the narrow part down, by which the flow 
is made more rapid and the deposit of sediment in avoided. 

The outlets of the drains should be amply large to avoid 
back water and should discharge if possible above the level 
of any high water. If in time of freshets or floods water is 
backed up into the drains, or there is any danger of it when 
making the outlets, it is advisable to fit a gate to the outlet, 
so that when the water rises it may be closed against the 
entrance of sand or mud, and opened when the w T ater has 
subsided, so that the discharge may be rapid and carry off 
any sediment that may have settled in the drains. 

In plowing drained lands, the open furrows should never 
be made over drains, lest the water lying in them should 
find its way down and make a channel through the soil by 
which sand or mud may be carried into the drain. The 
location of every drain should be marked by permanent 
stakes or posts in the fencee so that it can be reached when 
desired without difficulty. 



IRRIGATION. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

IRRIGATION OF FARM CROPS. 

No other country in the world offers so wide a scope, and 
such enormous opportunities, for the application of irriga- 
tion to the profitable culture of farm crops, as the United 
States. A grand chain of mountains, in which are the 
sources of several of the largest rivers in the world, presents 
a watershed of enormous proportions, which supplies a myr- 
iad of streams whose waters flow down into dry plains, de- 
prived of rain by the interception of the mountains. The 
summer rainfall and winter snows which fall upon the moun- 
tains, are thus carried down into the arid plains, where a 
wealth of the richest soil lies uselessly, for want of rain. 
When the streams which thus flow down, are turned from 
their natural channels into canals provided for the purpose, 
and the water is carried over the land in irrigating ditches, 
the soil yields the finest crops with the greatest ease. No 
adverse weather interferes with the labor of the husband- 
man. The unclouded sun, beams down upon the verdant 
fields, and ripens the crops, invigorated to most abundant 
fruitfulness, by the constant and ample supply of water thus 
provided. 

But it is not only in these arid climates that irrigation 
becomes a most valuable aid to the farmer in the culture of 
his crops. Wherever streams can be turned to this use, and 
their waters poured out upon lower ground, the grass crop 
may be doubled or trebled ; and what is of more account, 
may be made safe against all the adverse contingencies of 
weather. The common and necessary rotation of crops in 
ordinary farming may be an obstacle in the way of the gen- 
eral use of irrigation, but for permanent meadows it will be 
found invaluable and exceedingly profitable. There are 
thousands of opportunities for making these meadows along 



174 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the river bottoms which are periodically overflowed, but 
which are torn up and washed by the floods instead of being 
fed and enriched. 

The mode of procedure is as follows. A dam is made 
across the stream in the- most convenient situation, and the 
water is carried out on one side in a ditch, as if for the pur- 
pose of running a mill. When the ditch attains a sufficient 
elevation to cover the desired space of ground, the water is 
let out through gates and small channels on to the land. 
The land is previously leveled and made smooth by repeated 
plowing and scraping, until an even surface has been formed. 
It is then sown with the kinds of grasses best suited to this 
mode of cultivation; but any of the best varieties, as timo- 
thy; perennial rye grass; orchard grass; meadow fescue; red 
top; meadow oat grass; fowl meadow grass; may be grown 
under this system. As the land will slope a little towards 
the river bank, the space between this and the ditch will be 
best laid out into broad terraces, enclosed with low dams, 
by which the water is retained over the smooth level sur- 
face at a depth of 3 inches, or thereabouts, in each division, 
whenever the grass needs the water. This may be weekly, 
in the growing season, and the w T ater may be turned on for 
one night in every week, to soak the ground thoroughly, and 
prevent it from drying so as to stop the growth of the grass. 
There is no danger of injury to the ground, because the 
gates are made to discharge into ditches which gradually 
overflow until the whole surface is covered. When this is 
effected, the surplus water flows off through gates on the 
border of the river; and through the lower dam or bank. 
Thus a continuous sheet of water is left flowing over, or 
through the grass, carrying the most luxuriant vigor to the 
crop, and stimulating the growth enormously. The more 
water that passes over the grass, the more of the most val- 
uable plant food is brought within reach of the roots. Ev- 
<3ry blade of grass acts as a filter which retains matter that 
may be in solution, or is carried in suspension in the water 
which slowly passes over the ground. Any solid matter that 
may be carried in the water is thus deposited on the land, 



MANAGEMENT OF IRRIGATED MEADOWS. 175 

and adds a large amount of the most valuable elements of 
fertility to it. Thus the meadows need no manuring ex- 
cepting at rare intervals, to restore the exhaustive drafts 
upon the soil made by the enormous crops that are grown 
in this manner. 80 tons of green grass, equal to 20 tons of 
hay per acre, have been produced annually upon irrigated 
meadows in England, for more than a century; and no 
manure, more than that brought down in the water, has ev- 
er been applied to the land. This process of irrigation may 
be used in both summer and winter, where the climate per- 
mits of it. All through the southern states, and the lower 
middle states, winter irrigation will not only feed the grass, 
hut protect it; and the water may be kept on the land — but 
always in motion — during the greater part of the winter, or 
from December to March, with benefit to the grass. Where 
the winters are cold enough to form ice, and the water can 
be raised to a sufficient height, it may be permitted to flow 
under the covering of ice; thus avoiding the injuries which 
result from alternate freezing and thawing during the cold 
season. 

In the spring, when cold nights follow warm days, and 
frost occurs, the water is let on to the grass as a protection 
to it, lest the tender, succulent, growth produced by the wa- 
tering may be injured. When the weather is dry, it is ad: 
visable to flow the water over the grass every night, and so 
keep the growth unchecked even in the hottest and dryest 
weather. 

Meadows of this kind are not suitable for pasturing, but 
are kept only for hay, or for cutting for soiling cattle on the 
green fodder. 

Where the supply of water is insufficient for full irriga- 
tion, it may be gathered into reservoirs during six days of 
the week, and the whole used on the seventh day. Or the 
land may be divided into sections, and the water which has 
been turned on to one may be let on to the next one the 
next day, and so on, until it has been all absorbed. Where 
springs only can be thus utilized, and the supply of water is 
small, a reservoir may be constructed to gather the water; and 



I To* THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

when it is full, the water may be discharged by an auto- 
matic arrangemenl (such as is described in the Authors work 
on Irrigation for the Farm, Garden, and Orchard; in which 
the full details of the preparation of the land and all ap- 
pliances for the use of the water in the culture of all kinds 
of crops, are given). 

In many cases, the water of springs rising on high ground 
may he used for partial irrigation of grass lands, by con- 
veying it in furrows hack and forth down the slope, at such 
an inclination as will cause a sufficient flow. In this method 
a furrow is turned down the slope SO as to form a channel 

for the flow of water. Here and there the furrow slice is 

cut through, and the water is permitted to escape down the 
slope. By stopping these openings with sods, the How is 
stopped, and turned through others on to fresh ground. 
This simple method of irrigation may be made available on 
many farms, where now the water escaping uncontrolled, is 
a source of injury to the land. 

In other cases, a number of springs, the waters from which 
formed previously a useless swamp, have been connected by 
ditches, and the gathered water conveyed on to lower land 
for watering the grass. Thus a serious and injurious evil 
has been turned to a double benefit, by reclaiming, upon 
one hand, a useless marsh, and greatly increasing the pro- 
duct of land which formerly suffered by want of sufficient 
water. All these different points should be studied by the 
farmer, who may be on the alert to turn every opportunity 
which comes to him, to his own advantage. 

But there are other methods which may be turned to 
profitable uses under circumstances which at first sight 
might seem to be unavailable. The water may be raised 
by mechanical means, from rivers on to lands upon a high- 
er level. Several cases have come to the Authors notice in 
his practice as an Agricultural and Hydraulic engineer, in 
which land has been irrigated in this way; the water hav- 
ing been raised from rivers and small streams by the mo- 
tive power of the streams themselves. A very simple water 
wheel moved by the current, works a force pump, by which 



QUANTITY OF WATER DBED FOR IRRIGATION. 177 

the water is raised to a sufficient height; or a submerged 
rotary or "propeller" pump raises the water; or a windmill 
may be used. In short, where water can be procured, and 
it ran be used with profit upon the land, there is do reason 
why it cannot be made available through the skiJ of the 

engineer or the enterprise of the farmer; eitherby the force 
of its own gravity, or by some mechanical application. 

The quantity of water used in irrigating farm crops, va- 
ries from one cubic foot per second for l' ( >o acre.-:, to double 
that quantity. That is, a stream of water flowing through 
a gate haying one square foot of area, or 144 .square inches, 
at the rate of 60 feel per minute, is sufficient to water 200 a< 

of land. But meadow- consume a much larger quantity of 

water than this. In some of the irrigated meadow- in the 
South of France, where the climate is hot and dry, the ex- 
traordinary quantity of water is poured over the grass, as 
to be sufficient to cover the surface 1300 feet in depth in the 

whole year. In other cases, water to the equivalent of a 
total of 27 feet in depth has been used in (') months of the 
growing season. In general it has been found that the 
more water that can he made to flow over the grass, the 
greater will he the product. 

From what has been .-aid in a previous chapter, on the- 
relation of water to tin; growth of plants, it is easily realized 
how important it is to the- farmer to make- use of this prac- 
tice of irrigation wherever and whenever he can; how it, 
may he made to secure and increase crops under the ordi- 
nary circumstances of the farm culture, and as an aid to the 
natural rainfall, and how, by the use of it, the desert may 
be made productive of every crop of the farm, and to sup. 
port an industrious and enterprising population, when- for- 
merly no useful plant could grow, and when; the wild beasts 
roamed and howled in search of their prey. Thus it is that 
man has dominion over the earth and all that it contain-., 
and turn.- it to his uses, and for the good of his race, by all 
the natural forces which his knowledge, experience, and 
skill, enable him to make available for his purpose.-;. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XX V . 
PLOWING.— ITS PURPOSES AND ITS RESULTS. 

The plow iL the principal implement of farm culture. The 
name of it has become typical of agriculture and of peace- 
ful industry; as the sword typifies war and slaughter. Its 
precise purpose in agriculture, however, and the principles 
of its construction and action, are very rarely understood 
by those whose business it is to use it, and whose subsistence 
is procured by its use. At first, the plow merely stirred and 
loosened the soil, and consisted of a crooked beam of wood, 
a limb of a tree, guided by a handle and drawn by an ox. 
For thousands of years this imperfect implement served the 
purposes of the cultivator of the soil. At this day, and in 
our own enlightened country, the plow in use over a large 
portion of the land, is little better than that which prepared 
the ancient fields of Egypt, India, and Rome, for the recep- 
tion of the seel. In the north and west, however, the plows 
in use are the most perfe 3t productions of the mechanical 
inventors genius and thought, and of the manufacturing art. 
Its curves have a deep purpose and significance, but 
these are unknown to most of those who handle it. And 
yet a knowledge of thid purpose and significance is neces- 
sary to the most effective use of it, 

No plows in the world are able to do better work than 
the American plows, and no others are so light and easily 
handled. But it is a sad truth, which cannot be denied or 
excused, that worse plowing can scarcely be seen than 
the average work on American farms. Perhaps this 
is the reason why the average yield of our crops is smaller 
than that of any other civilized country, and that American 
farmers complain that their business is not profitable. If 
the foundation is weak and ill constructed, the edifice can- 
not be firm or substantial; and when the plowing is imper- 



IMPORTANCE OF GOOD PLOWING. 179 

fectly done, and the soil is not well turned, no after opera- 
tion can be fully effective however well it may be performed; 
and the crops must necessarily suffer. 

The mold board of a plow has a complex curve intended 
to raise the furrow slice and turn it over on its edge at vary- 
ing angles, or to entirely reverse it. The latter operation 
is rarely practiced, and generally the furrow slices are laid 
over at an angle not far from 45 degrees. This is the best 
position for all sorts of plowing, excepting perhaps for fal- 
lowing land and destroying weeds ; but this last mentioned 
necessity should never occur in the best culture of farm 
crops, and it is one of the purposes of this work to show 
how this necessity may be avoided by thorough culture of 
the soil. American plows are made with a short, sharply 
curving mold board, which bends the furrow slice so much 
as to crack and break it, and so to leave stubble land par- 
tially pulverized, unless the soil is quite stiff clay, and then 
it is considerably loosened and broken, when it is in the 
right condition for plowing, and not too wet or too dry. 

The soil should be in this right condition before the plow 
is put into it. When it is too wet, the passage of the plow 
through it draws over and plasters the surface, and instead 
of breaking it, leaves it tough and compact. Then the 
furrow slices dry hard and cloddy, and no amount of har- 
rowing will reduce the land to a fine tilth. Not even, the 
Acme harrow, the most perfect implement of the kind that 
has been devised or made, can fully overcome the injury 
thus done to the land, which may remain for many years. 
When the soil is too dry, the plow can scarcely be kept to 
the proper depth, and the land is turned up in clods 
which are equally refractory under the harrow. This of 
course refers more particularly to clay soils, but lighter 
loams may be injured for the season, or for years, by being 
plowed when too wet. 

The farmer who desires to secure the best results of his 
labor in plowing, should choose the time when the land is 
moist but not wet, and when it may be pressed by the hand 
into a ball which will cohere and retain its shape, until it 



180 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

is dropped to the ground, and then it will break apart into 
loose, small fragments. Then the soil will turn over and 
break apart and offer the very best opportunities for the 
final working and thorough pulverization by the harrow, if 
this is not deferred too long. 

The plow will do the best work when it is hitched by the 
traces, so that it runs the required depth without any effort 
on the part of the plowman to keep it down to its work, or 
to prevent it from running too deeply. This is to be secured 
by a few trials, and such adjustment of the draft as will 
produce the desired effect. Then the plowman has three 
important things to attend to, viz; to keep the depth of the 
furrow even and regular; to preserve the width of the furrow 
exactly the same; and to make the furrow perfectly straight. 

These three points comprise the essence of good plowing, 
and no other sort of plowing will secure the best culture of 
the crops, and the highest yield attainable. 

When the furrow is not of even depth, there will be some 
parts of the land too hard and compact to furnish the re- 
quisite depth of pulverized soil for the proper growth of the 
plant. Not only will the roots be unable to penetrate to a 
sufficient depth in the soil, but the atmosphere will be ex- 
cluded from a considerable portion of it, and all the various 
effects of the circulation of the air through the soil which 
have been particularly pointed out in previous chapters — 
and the importance of which will be now realized, if it has 
not been before — will be missed, to the serious detriment of 
the crops. 

When the furrow is not of even width, there will be still 
m^re unevenness of the soil. A portion of the land will not 
be cut and turned over at all, the slice of soil will not be 
severed at the wide part but be simply bent over, leaving a 
strip of land wholly unplowed. The turned soil will lie 
upon this hard space, and just there, will be a barren snot 
upon which the crop will surely fail to some considerable 
extent. The error first made will be repeated in every sub- 
sequent furrow, unless the careful and painstaking plowman 
will remedy the fault by taking less land at the next furrow 



WHAT GOOD PLOWING IS. 181 

at these places, and so bring it out even again. But even 
then the previous mistake and injury is only balanced by a 
second one, and two bad spots are left in the field. 

When the furrows are not straight it is impossible to keep 
them of even width ; and to plow the land evenly and keep 
it free from hard spots upon which only weak plants will 
grow. For the result of such plowing is, that a certain 
portion of the land is not plowed at all, and these unplowed 
spots will show, not only in the succeeding crop, but for 
years afterwards, and the repetition of such irregular plow- 
ing will leave a field spotted over with these infertile patches 
upon which the crop will appear quite inferior to the rest 
of the field. It is this bad plowing to which the "spotty" 
appearance of the land when covered with crops is owing, 
and it goes without saying, that this is necessarily accom- 
panied by serious loss to the farmer. 

When afield is well plowed, one may walk over it and 
thrust a stick down through the soil anywhere, and find ev- 
erywhere the same depth and the same ease of penetration; 
the foot will sink in the soil everywhere to the same even, 
depth; and when the harrow passes over such a field, it 
hugs the land closely, every tooth doing its service, and the 
implement will not jump and bound as it does when there 
are hard unplowed spots to throw it out of the soil. 

But the soil varies very much in composition, character, 
and surface; and each variation calls for special treatment. 
Level ground offers no difficulty whatever to the passage of 
the plow, but clay soils require different management from 
that of lighter land. One purpose of plowing is not only 
to break up the land to fit it for the crops, but to expose as 
much of it as possible to the influence of frost, and rain, and 
the air, to bring it into the finest condition; to set free a, 
large quantity of mineral plant food in it; to decompose 
the organic matter in it; and to enable it to absorb as much 
as possible of carbonic acid and nitric acid from the air. 
This purpose is best attained by fall plowing; and this 
should be done as early as possible so as to give time for 
the desired effects to be produced. 



182 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

The stiffest clay soil is brought to a fine and mellow con- 
dition more easily by frost, than by any other means. The 
expansion of water in the act of freezing separates the par- 
ticles of soil from each other, and breaks up their cohesion. 
When the soil thaws, the particles fall apart and form a loose 
mass. A rough plowing in the fall, by which the land is 
broken up and a large surface is exposed to the weather, is 
thus the very best preparation for the spring crops; and the 
land thus plowed, is fitted in the very best manner without 
any more plowing, by the use of the harrow; especially the 
Acme harrow and pulverizer; which breaks down the soft- 
ened clods; turns over the surface; smooths and levels it; 
and thoroughly mixes the soil. Thus, fall plowing and the 
subsequent exposure to the winter of as large a surface of 
the soil as may be, is a very important operation in the cul- 
ture of farm crops. 

Sloping ground requires a special kind of plow, by which 
the land is always turned down the hill, and an even mellow 
surface is procured. It is impossible to turn a furrow up the 
hill as evenly as it can be turned down the slope, hence the 
use of a common plow on sloping ground is objectionable. 
There are several kinds of hill-side plows now made, which 
do excellent work and should be used on this kind of ground 
in preference to any other. From many years use of this 
kind of plow, some farmers prefer them for use on level land. 
The great advantage in their use on level ground, is, that 
there are no open furrows or ridges in the field, as the land 
is all plowed one way ; or by beginning in the middle, one 
half the field is plowed one way first, and the other half is 
turned the other way afterwards. To prevent ridges in any 
kind of plowing, either with the hill-side ]^low or the ordi- 
nary kind, the simple plan may be followed of first plowing 
out a wide open furrow and then reversing it, so as to fill 
the furrow level, and leave a plain smooth surface. This 
should be done in all kinds of plowing, as it avoids the dis- 
advantage of leaving a strip of unplowed ground under the 
back furrows, in the center of each land; and the conse- 
quent waste of a considerable portion of the soil. 



RESULTS OF GOOD PLOWING. 183 

The use of the subsoil plow is a very important accessory 
to the best culture of farm crops. It is used to follow the 
common plow in the same furrow, and breaks up the hard 
bottom for several inches in depth. The advantages of this 
cannot be overrated. It gradually deepens the fertile soil 
by bringing the subsoil under the influence of the air, and 
of heat ; and also of the decaying vegetable and animal mat- 
ter which goes into the soil in the form of manures ; as well 
as of the chemical influences of lime, potash, and other spe- 
cial fertilizers. 

The importance of this operation of tillage has always 
been recognized by the most intelligent and thoughtful far- 
mers, and shoulel not be overlooked or slighted. "Tillage 
is manure," has been an accepted principle of agriculture 
since it was first tersely propounded by Mr. Jethro Tull, 
an English farmer, about a century ago; and it is now, 
more than at any previous time, that the truth of it is re- 
cognized and realized. 

The results of good plowing are varied. They secure a 
fitting bed for the seed, and afford favorable opportunities 
for the growth of the roots, and their most perfect penetra- 
tion in and through the soil. The sail is opened to the ad- 
mission of the atmosphere and of the rain and dews;- the 
heat of the sun penetrates it and sets in action the various 
currents, which, flowing in and out of it, bring in oxygen, 
carbonic acid, and nitrogen; all of which have a most inti- 
mate and effective relation to the growth and perfection of 
the crops. Good plowing facilitates, and makes more effec- 
tive, every subsecment operation of culture, and thus helps, 
to a very great extent, towards the ultimate end of the far- 
mers labors; which is large crops, and a satisfactory return 
for the labor and capital employed. It is in fact the foun- 
dation for the profitable culture of farm crops, and as such, 
deserves the closest study and most intelligent application 
of every good farmer. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

HARROWING.— ITS EFFECTS UPON THE SOIL AND ITS 
RELATION TO THE GROWTH OF CROPS. 

The harrow is undoubtedly the most important implement 
that is used in the preparation of the soil for farm crops. 
While it follows the plow, and as a rule cannot be used un- 
til the plow has done its work in breaking up the soil, its 
effect in pulverizing the ground is still more necessary to 
the growth of plants. If a proof were wanting, the exceed- 
ingly low average of the yield of the crops in the South, 
where good harrows are rarely seen, would furnish it suffi- 
ciently to convince any intelligent farmer. Where a nat- 
urally rich soil, under a favorable climate produces no more 
than 5 bushels of wheat; 10 bushels of corn; 150 lbs. of cot- 
ton to the acre; there must be something wrong; and this 
is, beyond a doubt, to be found in the most imperfect tillage 
of the soils. 

When the land is plowed the soil is turned over in layers 
lying side by side, and having, more or less of open space 
between these layers. Unless these layers are perfectly 
broken up and the soil is pulverized so as to fill up all these 
spaces, the seed falls into these vacancies, where it germi- 
nates and sends out its spire and roots. The young plant, 
at first subsisting upon the nutriment contained in the seed, 
soon pushes its roots into the soil for the purpose of finding 
food, and moisture whereby it can absorb this food. The 
roots thus pushed out under the unfavorable circumstances 
here described, fail to find any mellow compact soil into 
which they can enter, but vainly spreading in search of it 
wither and perish, and as soon as the seed is exhausted of 
the nutriment in it the young spire also dies. This is the 
reason why, of the more than one million seeds that are con- 
tained in a bushel and a half of wheat, and which are suffi- 
cient to give 25 plants to every square foot in an acre, or 



LOSS BY DEFECTIVE HARROWING. 185 

one to every 6 square inches, or to a space 2 1 inches apart 
each way, the majority fail to germinate successfully and 
perish in a short time; thus leaving not more than a fourth 
of their number of vigorous plants to survive and make a 
crop. One peck of seed on well prepared and fertile soil, 
will cover the ground with plants thick enough to make a 
yield of 50 bushels per acre at the harvest. Defective har- 
rowing is the cause, then, of the loss of millions of bushels of 
seed, and the reduction of the yield to the low general average 
of 12 bushels of wheat, and other crops in proportion, per acre. 
This enormous loss, which is felt in the same way with ev- 
ery crop grown, may very reasonably be held to be the suf- 
ficient grounds for the common complaint that "farming 
does not pay," and extinguishes to a most enormous extent 
the possible — nay the certain — results of the farmers work 
were it performed in a perfect manner. 

There are several kinds of harrows in use, some of which 
are very inefficient and unfit for the purposes for which they 
are used. The purpose of this implement is too commonly 
supposed to be to smooth the surface, and to cover seed. 
The first intention is rarely carried out because of the infe- 
rior plowing, and the other can scarcely be consummated be- 
cause the implement is by no means fitted for covering seed. 
It does this in a most irregular manner by scratching small 
furrows in the soil with which the seed is pushed by the 
hinder teeth, and is partially covered by the superficial stir- 
ring of the ground. The usually uneven surface of the 
ground and the irregular motion of the harrows, interfere 
greatly with this intended effect, and lead to the waste of 
seed and the inferior yield of the crops above mentioned. 
The common spike tooth harrow is the most objectionable 
in this respect ; but the objection prevails equally against 
all forms of this implement which merely tear the soil and 
do not systematically pulverize the land; compress, smooth, 
and level the surface; and thoroughly mix and turn the soil; 
and when used to cover seed, thus do not leave it under a 
layer of fine mellow soil which might provide every requi- 
site and desirable condition for its most perfect germination, 



186 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

and the successful growth of the crops. The definite and 
special purpose of the harrow should be to prepare the soil 
for the seed, leaving the seeding and the covering of the seed 
to be performed by the seed drill. 

The effects of plowing the soil which have been described, 
make necessary more effective implements than the kinds 
of harrows above mentioned. A great improvement was 
made when the coulter harrows were introduced. These are 
provided with sloping cutting teeth which penetrate the 
plowed ground easily, and cut and consolidate, while they 
pulverize it, in a more effective manner. The gradual im- 
provement in this class of harrows has culminated in an im- 
plement which does the work in a more thorough manner 
than any other. This is necessarily a combined implement 
furnished with an iron bar or frame which crushes the clods, 
and levels the surface; a set of teeth which slope backwards 
and further break and pulverize the soil; and lastly, a dou- 
ble coulter which turns over the crushed soil, in the manner 
of a set of small plows, to a depth of 3 or 4 inches or more, 
which is easily regulated by tho operator. It may not be 
out of place to refer to this implement by name as the 
Acme Pulverizing Harrow, Clod Crusher and Leveler, 
because this name perfectly well describes not only what the 
implement does in the soil, but what a harrow should do to 
effect its purpose in preparing the soil for the growth of 
crops. 

This purpose and preparation consist in tearing apart the 
furrow slices; breaking and crushing the clods; cutting up 
and compacting the soil as far as the plow has penetrated;: 
and pulverizing the whole ground; and leaving the surface 
fine mellow and open for the circulation of air and the ab- 
sorption of moisture; as well as the reception of the seed. 

From a consideration of previous chapters, and the knowl- 
edge of the relations of the atmosphere; the various elements 
of the soil; of heat; of moisture; and the chemical effects 
and reactions of the various combinations of these, to the 
growth of plants, it is easily seen of what importance it is 
that the pulverization of the soil should be as complete and 



WHEN HARROWING IS MOST EFFECTIVE. 187 

perfect as possible; and how indispensable it is for the suc- 
cessful growth of crops, that the implements used to effect 
this purpose should be most perfectly adapted for it. 

Harrowing will be the most effective and useful the soon- 
er it follows the plowing. As soon as the soil is turned it 
begins to dry very quickly; and if at all adhesive, it forms 
intractable clods which resist all efforts to pulverize them. 
But when the harrow follows the plow, the moist soil is eas- 
ily and quickly reduced to a fine tilth, and when well pul- 
verized it does not dry out as w 7 hen left untouched for a few 
days after the plowing. This is very important when pre- 
paring the soil for fall crops, because the plowing should be 
done as early as possible and before the dry weather bakes 
and hardens, it. Then an immediate harrowing breaks it 
up and mellows it, and repeated harrowings consolidate it 
and fit it in the best manner for the seed. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

CULTIVATING CROPS.— THE EFFECT UPON THE SOIL 
AND UPON THE GROWTH OF THE CROPS. 

The cultivation of crops during their growth is not by 
any means the least important mechanical process for the 
improvement of the soil. Although it is a temporary pro- 
cess, and is used for a special purpose, yet its results are 
quite as permanent in improving the land as any other pro- 
cess which can be used to gain the same effect. Every far- 
mer who reads and studies the literature of agriculture, has 
learned that the culture of root crops has a beneficial effect 
upon the land. The farmer who grows a good crop of corn 
by means of thorough cultivation of the soil during the 
growth of it, knows 2 that the following oat crop is benefited 
by it, and yields better for the work which has been done 
the previous year. These are simply the necessary results 
of the frequent stirring of the soil by which the contributions 
of all the atmospheric agencies are secured to add to the 
amount of available plant food ; and while the growing crop 
is benefited, a surplus remains for the next crop. 

Summer fallowing, or the frequent working of the bare 
soil during the growing season, was formerly considered an 
effective means of improving the soil. This mechanical op- 
eration consisted in plowing, harrowing, cross plowing, and 
repeated harrowing. The effect was to destroy weeds, and 
to pulverize the soil so that the air and the atmospheric 
moisture might contribute to it whatever they could, and 
also by their chemical action develop the fertility which 
was latent in it. The operation was no doubt a useful one, 
but it was thought, in time, that the advantages accruing 
from it were gained at too great a cost; and the loss of a 
crop was too great a price paid for the benefits received. 
This truth was finally accepted, and the growth of a culti- 
vated crop was substituted for the bare fallow. Certainly 



THE BENEFITS OF SUMMER CULTIVATION. 189 

everything that could be gained by the working of the bare 
ground was secured by the cultivation of a growing crop; 
and more; for the shading of the land preserves the moisture, 
and chemical action goes on more effectively in the moist 
soil than in the dry. Thus the gain resulting was found to 
be a profitable crop and the improvement of the soil to as 
great, or nearly as great, an extent as though no crop was 
taken and the labor was spent on the bare ground. 

No farmer dreams of summer fallow now. He prepares 
the land for corn, potatoes, beans, mangels, or some crop 
which can be thoroughly worked during its growth; and 
thus gains all the benefits which can result from this thor- 
ough working. What then are these benefits which result 
from this summer cultivation of the land ? 

It has been shown in previous chapters that the soil de- 
rives a considerable amount of valuable plant food from the 
atmosphere, and necessarily these contributions are greater 
in proportion to the quantity of air which passes through, 
or into and out of the soil ; by circulation. It is known that 
the soil gathers from 7 to 10 lbs. of nitrogen every year, in 
the form of nitric acid and of ammonia from the atmosphere. 
But this result was proved by experiments made in the cool 
climate of England and not upon cultivated soil. It is well 
known that heat is a most active agency in developing ni- 
tric acid and ammonia; and that if nitric acid is produced 
in the atmosphere by the action of lightning, and if ammon- 
ia is produced by the decomposition of organic matter, that 
in our hot summer climate, when electrical disturbances are 
most active, and when decomposition is most rapid, we may 
expect the fullest and most effective results of these agencies 
and a correspondingly large product of these forms of com- 
bined nitrogen. Thus the contribution of these forms of 
plant food are more copious during the summer season than 
at any other. 

But these contributions are brought down by the rains, 
and by the air which circulate in the soils. It is evident 
and obvious that the more the air can be made to circulate 
through the soil, and the more water that passes through it, 



190 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the larger will be these contributions of the richest kind of 
plant food. It is equally evident that the more the soil is 
worked and stirred, the more the changes from hot to 
cool, and from moist to dry, will affect it; and thus in 
consequence of all this, the soil that is cultivated during 
the summer must gain the largest accessions of plant 
food from the atmosphere. This is the first and greatest 
benefit that thus accrues from the summer cultivation of a 
growing crop. 

It has been shown too, that a large quantity of carbonic 
acid is brought to the soil by the atmosphere which circu- 
lates in it, and by the rain which descends upon it; and 
that carbonic acid has most distinct and important relations 
to plant growth. It furnishes the carbon, of which more 
than one-half of the dry substance of plants consists. More- 
over, water containing carbonic acid exerts a strong solvent 
action upon the mineral compounds of the soil, decomposing 
them and fitting them for use as food for plants. This is 
another and most important benefit accruing from this me- 
chanical operation upon the soil; for the larger amount of 
water received and passed through the soil by evaporation, 
the more effect is produced by the action of the carbonic 
acid dissolved in it. 

The same may be said of the oxygen which is absorbed 
by the rain water, and of the effect of the nitrifying influence 
of the peculiar germ known to produce nitric acid in the 
soil. These too, exert a more potent influence in porous 
and moist soil than in compact and dry soil. Thus in 
many ways we are able to perceive the useful results of the 
frequent working of the soil during the growth of a crop. 

But this is not all. The summer fellow was designed for 
the destruction of w r eeds, as well as for the reduction of the 
soil to a mellow and pulverulent condition. When a culti- 
vated crop is worked as it should be, every weed is de- 
stroyed most effectively. And just here a most important 
point for consideration comes up. As a rule the summer 
cultivation of the soil is not sufficiently thorough. Some 
weeds are permitted to escape. This is an injury to the soil 



INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF WEEDS. 191 

and to the crop, and should not be suffered by any good 
farmer. The full purpose of cultivation is not secured, un- 
less the weeds are destroyed before they appear above the 
soil. When the cultivation is the most effective one may 
see on examination of the soil, a vast number of newly ger- 
minated seeds; which, had they been permitted to gain a 
foot-hold in the soil, would have drawn nutriment from it 
and would have checked the growing crop. A large por? 
tion of them would have gained a sufficient foot-hold, or 
root-hold, to resist the shock of the overturning and could 
not be wholly destroyed by the disturbance of their roots. 
Thus the land will not have been kept clean, and injurious 
weeds will have been perpetuated. These remarks are cer- 
tainly justified by the appearance of the corn and root fields 
on nearly every farm. The crops, half smothered in weeds, are 
robbed of their necessary food. A vast quantity of water, in- 
dispensable to the full growth of the crops, is appropriated and 
exhaled by the weeds, and in this way too, the soil is de- 
prived of its fertility, and the farmer of the expected re- 
wards for his toil and time. 

No weed should be permitted to appear above the ground 
in such a case. If it does, the main purpose of the cultiva- 
tion is not effected. This is not to kill weeds, so much as to 
improve the soil, and were the soil wholly free from weeds, 
the regular working should be carried on in the most thor- 
ough manner. The weeds are destroyed incidentally; and 
the farmer should not wait for them to appear before the 
cultivator is started in the rows. This should be done be- 
fore the young plants of the crop have appeared above the 
ground, and should be continued at such short intervals as 
may be necessary to keep the soil loose and mellow. 



THE CULTUKE OF FARM CHOPS. 



CHAPTER XXVIII, 

MANURES.— THEIR MECHANICAL EFFECTS UPON 

THE SOIL. 

. It has been shown in a previous chapter how the ming- 
ling of vegetable matter in the soil affects its character; giv- 
ing it a larger capacity for absorbing moisture, and for 
holding it against evaporation ; and thus greatly improving 
its value for the production of crops. The art of manuring 
is one that should be well understood by the farmer, for it 
is somewhat intricate, and has more than the one result of 
adding plant food to the soil. This useful addition of plant 
food is by no means the only thing necessary to secure good 
crops. There must be with it, as has been previously ex- 
plained, a certain condition of the soil by which the plant 
food is made available. Just as it is unavailing to a starv- 
ing man to know that a store of food is contained in a sol- 
id stone building closed Avith iron doors, and secured by 
great bars and locks, w T hich he cannot open, so it is una- 
vailing for the crops that the soil may be rich in all the 
elements of plant food, and yet its mechanical condition is 
such that the roots cannot reach this food or the atmosphere 
make it soluble and nutritious. Manuring not only adds 
plant food to the soil, but it so affects the mechanical con- 
dition of the soil, when it is used in the right manner, as to 
quickly reduce it to a state of decomposition and make it 
soluble in water. Manure may be buried in the soil, or left 
exposed on the surface, and in either case be of little or no 
use to the crops; for if this be their only dependence, the 
young plants would be starved before the roots had gained 
strength and growth enough to reach the manure. 

This mechanical effect of manures on the soil is of great 
importance, for it affects the value and usefulness of the 
manure itself, and exerts a considerable effect upon the 
growth of the crops, beyond the mere supply of the crude 



HOW MANURE IS BEST APPLIED TO THE LAND. 193 

elements of fertility. This effect should be understood, lest 
labor and manure, both, be wasted. 

If the manure be plowed under with a flat furrow, for in- 
stance, it is buried out of reach of the influences of the air, 
by which oxidation and conversion into plant food are ef- 
fected. The seed sown upon land so prepared may germi- 
nate and put out roots, but the growth will be weak until 
the manure is reached ; when there will still be weak and 
slow growth because the manure has not become available 
for plant food by decomposition. This is therefore a loss of 
material and of time; the mechanical effect of the man' 
ure upon the soil is missed; and the soil is neither made 
more absorbent, nor more retentive of moisture. AVhen the 
manure is spread upon the land as a top dressing, the same 
absence of useful results prevails; and there is no change in 
the soil; although, if rains intervene, the soluble part of the 
manure is carried into the soil and is made available for 
the crops. 

When the manure is spread upon the soil, and is then 
plowed under with lap furrows, which are laid over at an 
angle of 45 degrees or thereabouts, there is an intimate mix- 
ture of the manure with the soil. These are intermingled 
in alternate layers set on edge. All the furrow slices of 5 
or 6 inches in thickness have between them a layer of man- 
ure, and the edges of all the layers are fully exposed to the 
atmosphere and to the rain. Decomposition of the manure 
and the chemical reaction of this process upon the mineral 
particles of the soil, go on with rapidity and perfection. 
The soil and the decaying organic matter are further inter- 
mingled by the harrowing after the plowing, and if the har- 
rowing is done in an effective manner the intermixture is 
perfectly made. 

The result of this is a more or less altered physical condi- 
tion of the soil in proportion to the quantity of manure 
which has been used. It matters not so far as the mechan- 
ical effect upon the soil is concerned, whether this mixture 
is rich manure from the stables or consists of composted veg- 
etable matter, swamp muck, green crops grown for the pur- 



194 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

pose, or a sod of grass or clover. The decayed organic 
matter of considerable bulk, and porous, and absorbent, 
opens and loosens the soil; makes it able to absorb and re- 
tain moisture; admits the air with its enriching gases to it; 
and by changing the color, warms it by the absorption of 
the sun's rays. This is the result of the mechanical effects 
only ; the chemical results are not now considered. And 
these are seen to be so important in so many ways to the 
growth of the crops, that the farmer desirous of procuring 
from the fields, the largest possible product, will make ev- 
ery exertion to increase the quantity of this bulky vegeta- 
ble matter which he can turn to such valuable uses. 

There is no scarcity of this kind of matterl Straw; leaves; 
coarse weeds — which should always be free from seeds; 
swamp muck ; the wastes of woolen mills; charcoal waste ; 
sawdust; lime; refuse from breweries; soap factories; sugar 
factories; tanneries; sweepings of streets; burned clay; and 
the refuse of brick yards and lime kilns; as well as the ex- 
crements from animals; and nightsoil; all these and any 
other matters that can be turned to this purpose — whether 
they be rich in fertilizing matter or not, should be gathered 
by the farmer for the mechanical improvement of the soil. 

Clay soil and sandy land are equally benefited ; the one 
is opened and made loose and porous; the other is made 
more compact; and both are made more absorbent and re- 
tentive of moisture by this means. So that the farmer may 
not stand upon the order of his performance, but do this 
work how and when he can. If one season is preferable to 
another it is the fall, when there is a large quantity of use- 
ful materials that may be collected, and when leisure per- 
mits the time to be given to the work. The preparation 
of the composts may go on through the winter season as 
w r ell as during the summer; but the best opportunities occur 
in the fall. Many opportunities are missed for want of 
thought or knowledge of the facts. Every village may 
supply hundreds of loads of available materials, which, un- 
used, are a costly burden to be got rid of. Every city is 
overburdened with the most valuable waste matters; the 



MATERIALS FOR MANURE. 195 

woods are deeply covered with them; and the thousands of 
factories are concerned how to get rid of the troublesome 
surplus. The farmer need not make a very close search to 
find them within easy reach. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



PART FOURTH. 

^23^-^ppi^ 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL BY CHEMICAL 
MEANS.— ANIMAL MANURES. 

The various methods of improving soils by chemical 
means, are based upon the following principles which have 
been already explained. 

First. — Plants obtain from a fertile soil a variable pro- 
portion of their organic nutriment, and the greater part of 
their nitrogen is derived from this source. 

Second. — The inorganic food which they require, they 
procure solely from the soil. 

Third. — Different kinds of plants require a special supply 
of different kinds of inorganic food, or of the same kinds in 
varying proportions. 

Fourth. — Soils vary considerably in respect of the va- 
rious inorganic compounds they contain, some soils may be 
deficient in some of them, and others may contain an 
abundance of all of them; therefore the growth of plants 
upon various soils differs accordingly. 

The whole art of improving the soil by chemical means, 
or of manuring and fertilizing it is based upon these few 
principles. 

There are three distinct methods of improving the soil in 
this way. 

First; by removing from it some injurious substance, and 
affording it an outlet by means of drains, in a word, by 
draining. 

Second; by the addition of some substance which may re- 
move, or change the character of noxious substances; or so 
change inert substances as to make them available by them- 



ACTION OF MANURE UPON THE SOIL. 197 

selves, or by reaction upon other substances. For instance, 
by adding lime to peaty soils or reclaimed swamps, we may 
neutralize noxious acids, and develop the nitrogen and ©th- 
er inert substances which they contain, into available plant 
food. 

Third; by adding to the soil various substances which 
afford food for plants. This is done by manuring the soil; 
although as yet we are not able to determine whether what 
we add to the soil actually feeds the crops or only prepares 
food for them. There is however reason to believe that 
some substances, as lime, potash, soda in various forms, but 
chiefly as salt, act in both capacities; now feeding the plants 
and then liberating from the soil and preparing other 
nutriment which enters into the circulation; at other times 
or at the same time entering themselves into the substance 
of the plants. This distinction makes it necessary to class- 
ify all these substances which either enter into the substance 
of plants or prepare other substances to do this, or which 
perform both functions, as manure. 

In this sense we may call these substances either simple 
manures — such as common salt; lime; nitrate of soda; gyp- 
sum; or as mixed or complete manures, as barn yard man- 
ure; and the various artificial mixed manures which contain 
all the elements of barn yard manure, and which are now 
in common use and are largely sold. 

But in considering specially these various manures which 
improve the soil or promote the growth of crops in any way, 
we may take them in the following order, viz: animal man- 
ures; vegetable manures; and mineral manures. 

Animal Manures. — Animal substances have always 
been considered as exceedingly valuable manure, because 
they are highly concentrated and so readily decomposed that 
their action upon vegetation is both immediate and remark- 
ably apparent. The various animal manures may be in- 
cluded in the following list, the solid excrements of farm 
animals and of human beings, and their urine mixed with 
litter and various vegetable substances which are used as 
absorbents; flesh; blood; horn; hair; wool; bones; and guano. 



198 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

The excrements of animals, both solid and liquid, with 
the litter used in stables, is the main supply of the farmer 
for the feeding of his crops. These vary in character, but 
not as is commonly supposed as the animals themselves dif- 
fer, but on the contrary, as the kind of food varies. Horse 
manure is considered the best of this class, but it is because 
horses are fed chiefly upon grain and hay; in like manner 
the manure of sheep, cows, and pigs, varies in quality as 
these animals are fed upon grass, straw, or grain. 

The liquid excrement of animals — the urine, so called be- 
cause of the large quantity of urea contained in it — is richer 
in the valuable elements of plant food than the solid drop- 
pings. Urine contains a large quantity of water, thus in 
1000 parts, 

Water. 

Human urine contains 969 

Horses " " 940 

Cows " " 930 

Pigs " " 926 

Sheep " " 960 

The urine is the most important and valuable of all nat- 
ural liquid manures, and instead of being wasted and made 
a source of offense to the sensitive membranes of man and 
animals by reason of the pungent ammoniacal vapors evolved 
from it, it deserves to be most carefully saved and preserved 
for use in fertilizing the soil and in feeding crops. The 
need for this is shown in the following figures, which give 
the amount of the most valuable elements of plant food 
contained in it. 

Composition of Urine in 

Of Man. 

Water 933.0^ 

Urea 30.1" 

Uric acid 1.0 

Mucus and other matter 17.4 

Sulphate of potash 3.7 ~ 

Sulphate of soda 3.2 

Phosphate* if soda 2.9 

Phosphate of ammonia 1.6 [ 33.0 31.8 12.0 18.0 

Chloride of sodium 4.5 

Nitrate of ammonia 1.5 

Various phosphates ' 1.1. 

1000.0 1000. 1000. 1000. 1000. 



Organic 
matter. 


Inorganic 
matter. 


23.4 


7.6 


27.0 


33.0 


50.0 


20.0 


56.0 


18.0 


28.0 


12.0 



INE IN 1000 


Parts. 




Horse. Cow. 


Sheep. 


Pig. 


940.0 926.2 


960.0 


926.0 


27.0 40.0 


28.0 


56.0 


2.0 







VALUE OF URINE. 199 

Carbon. Hydrogen. Nitrogen. Oxygen. 
Urea consists of in 100 parts 20.0 G.6 40. 7 26.7 

Nearly one-half of the solid matter of urine consists of nitro- 
gen, and it is therefore far richer in this invaluable element 
than flesh, blood, or any other fertilizing substance of which 
the value is supposed to exist in the nitrogen it contains. 

Urea possesses a further valuable property, in that when 
it ferments, which it does very rapidly, it changes entirely 
to carbonate of ammonia. The ammonia thus formed how- 
ever at once begins to escape into the atmosphere, and it is 
this volatile gas, thus escaping, which causes the pungent 
odor of unclean stables. The absolute necessity then of 
preserving this valuable substance — the urine — from loss, 
either by waste when fresh, or by decomposition afterwards, 
is paramount, and cannot be neglected by the farmer who 
expects to succeed fully in the culture of his crops. The 
enormous waste resulting from the common neglect of far- 
mers in this respect, is illustrated by the following figures 
which represent the quantity of urine yielded by a man, a 
horse, and a cow, during a whole year, and the solid niatter 
contained in it. 

there are of solid matter. Urea. Ammonia. 

In theivrineof aman 1000 lbs. 07 lbs. 30 lbs. 17 lbs. 

In the urine of a horse 1500 lbs. 90 lbs. 45 lbs. 25 lbs. 

In the urine of a cow 13000 lbs. 900 lbs. 400 lbs. 230 lbs. 

These figures are given by Sprengel, and differ from those 
by Boussingault who increases the amount of the ammonia 
in the case of the horse by 50 per cent, and reduces that in 
the case of the cow. But as has beeu observed these results 
depend very considerably upon the kind and quantity of 
food consumed by the animals. 

Many farmers give considerable attention to the amount 
of ammonia which the soil gathers from the air, or which 
is brought down in the snow; but if the total amount of this 
which is believed to be thus derived is certainly gained, the 
quantity secured by 30 acres is not more than is produced 
by one man, and a horse, and a cow, in the urine alone. 
How important then is it that this latter source of fertility 
of the soil should be most jealously guarded. 



200 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

The solid excrements of animals, man included, contain 
every element of plant growth ; but by no means in the 
perfect proportion required by the crops. 

The constituents of ordinary mixed farm manures are 
as follows (in 1000 lbs). 

Fresh. Half rotted. Wholly rotted. 

Water 710 750 790 

Organic matter 246 192 145 

Mineral matter 44. 58 65. 

Nitrogen (in the organic matter)... 4.5 5. 5.8 

Potash 5.2 6.3 5.0 

Phosphoric acid in the ash 2.1 2.6 3.0 

Lime in the ash 5.7 7.0 8.8 

Magnesia in the ash 1.4 1.8 1.8 

Horse manure is considered more valuable than any other 
part of the common stable manure. It heats quickly and 
gives off ammonia copiously, and is really richer than other 
manure because of the less quantity of urine voided, although 
the horse may be no better fed than other animals. But 
when cows or fattening oxen are w r ell fed upon bran and 
oil meals, their manure heats as readily and exhales am- 
monia by its rapid deconrposition as copiously as horse man- 
ure. The difference between the manure of a horse and a 
cow is very slight as may be seen by the following analyses 
of the dry excrements. 

Horse dung. Cow dung. 

Carbon (per cent.) 38.7 42.8 

Hydrogen " 5.1 5.2 

Oxygen " 37.7 37.7 

Nitrogen " 2.2 2.3 

Ash " 16.3 12.0 

100.00 100.00 

Water " 300.00 5C.t;.00 

400.00 666.00 

The moister condition of the cow manure explains the 
reason why it heats less rapidly than that of the horse. 

Night soil, or human excrement, is generally a rich and 
valuable fertilizer; but it is commonly so mismanaged that 
the most valuable portions are lost by exhalation, or by 
solution and waste. When mixed with dry earth, or peat, 
or powdered charcoal, it can be handled without offense and 
waste. It is a matter of public loss and general offense, 



MANAGEMENT OF MANURE. 201 

that this useful fertilizer should be wasted in the manner 
in which it now is, and the vast quantity of plant food in it 
should be worse than thrown away. China sustains a pop- 
ulation now 8 times as large as that of the United States, 
and supports all its vast consumption by its own products; 
and yet without any fertilizers but those derived from the 
night soil, which is carefully preserved for this use by 
mixture with earth. 

The excrements of the sheep furnishes a manure second 
only to that of the horse, and is highly valued by the best 
farmers, especially for the production of grain. The feed- 
ing of sheep is, on this account, made a special business 
upon grain farms where their manure, and the profit from 
their flesh and wool, are found to be exceedingly desirable 
and satisfactory. 

The value of stable manure depreciates by the length of 
time during which it is kept and by exposure to the weath- 
er. The loss sustained in keeping manure in open yards 
for 3 months is fully one-half; partly by washing by the 
rains, and partly by the escape of the ammonia evolved 
during the decomposition. The values above given are 
those of the best preserved manure, and the farmer who 
wishes to realize these values must take measures to so keep 
his manure, as to preserve all its fertilizing qualities. This 
is easily done by putting it in flat heaps which will gather 
the rain that falls upon it, and no more, and to control the 
heat of the fermentation by turning it over before the heat 
becomes injurious. Overheated manure is of little value; 
but overheating will rarely occur when all the manure of va- 
rious kinds are regularly mixed together and kept in a com- 
pact heap, flat on the top, to receive the rain. The liq- 
uid manure should be carefully saved by the use of absorb- 
ents, of which dried swamp muck is the best, or by tight 
drains through which it is carried to an underground cis- 
tern in which the solid manure is kept to absorb it. The 
escape of ammonia is easily prevented by the free use of 
powdered gypsum scattered on the stable floors and about 
the yards, and through the manure heaps. 



202 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

Poultry manure is considered to be a valuable fertilizer, 
and is in fact richer in useful plant food than any other 
kind of manure from farm animals; but it is not nearly so 
rich in this respect as is generally believed. Its composi- 
tion is as follows: 

Analysis of Hen Manure. 

Dry. Fresh. 

Water per cent 8.35 45.73 

Phosphoric acid 2.02 .47 

Lime 2.22 .97 

Magnesia 0.68 

Potash 0.94 .18 

Nitrogen 2.13 .79 

Insoluble mutter 34. Go 39.32 

Value per ton $10.55 8 3.42 

The cause of its higher value than that of ordinary farm 
manure, is, that it contains the solid and liquid evacuations 
together; these being expelled together by birds; hence the 
urine is intimately mixed with the solid excrement. The 
grain, and animal food in the form of insects, consumed by 
poultry, tend to gh T e the manure a high value. It is how- 
ever but little, if any, more valuable as a fertilizer than 
equally dry manure from well fed horses or sheej). Its con- 
centrated composition enables it to be used with advantage 
in the common form of compost, with plaster and wood 
ashes; in which it is very often applied to corn, cabbage, 
and garden crops. It is however too valuable to be neg- 
lected as it frequently is, and might be saved and used with 
profit in the above named compost and as top dressing for 
grain crops in the spring, for which its soluble character, 
and its pulverized condition, make it both useful and con- 
venient. 



GREEN MANURING. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

VEGETABLE MANURES.— THEIR ACTION UPON THE- 

SOIL AND THEIR VALUE AS PLANT FOOD.— 

GREEN MANURING. 

Vegetable manures consist of green crops grown for the 
purpose, plowed into the soil; of the roots and remains of 
the crops; and of any vegetable matter which may be gath- 
ered for the purpose of increasing the bulk of the common 
farm manures. Green manuring is the plowing in of any 
green crop in its fresh state and while growing upon the 
soil. It is necessarily an economical operation as regards 
labor, and is especially well adapted for the manuring of 
distant fields, or of hilly land where manure could not be 
hauled except with much labor and expense. But this 
practice is advantageous in other respects. Air and water 
— it has been shown — are most effective agents in the de- 
composition of organic matter, and green vegetable sub- 
stances contain much water in themselves and are much 
mixed with air when loosely covered with soil; hence they 
decompose very rapidly and become serviceable when thus 
mixed with the soil. 

The sap of plants contains certain compounds of nitrogen 
which not only very readily decompose, but have the prop- 
erty of inducing by their own decomposition, the elements 
of other substances, with which they come in contact in the 
soil, to assume new forms and to undergo various changes 
by which they enter into new combinations. The sap of 
plants, in its own rapid decomposition, quickly propagates 
in the woody fiber and other substances of the plants, an 
active fermentation which results in the speedy decomposi- 
tion of these substances of which the plants are composed. 
Then the elements of which sap and the solid substance 
of the plants are composed form new compounds, which are 
useful to the growing crops, and which supply them with 
food. This action going on, in and under the soil, is not 



204 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

accompanied by any waste as would occur were the decom- 
position to be completed in the open air, and when carbonic 
acid and ammonia would be produced, and being gases, 
would escape into the atmosphere. Moreover if this green 
vegetable matter were to be exposed to the weather during 
its decomposition, a considerable quantity of its mineral el- 
ements would be washed out and wasted, the potash for in- 
stance would be almost wholly lost in this way, but in and 
under the soil there is no loss. Hence the practice of green 
manuring, or of the use of any green vegetable matter in 
the making of composts, is exceedingly advantageous to the 
farmer, and greatly assists him in the growth of large crops. 

Some of the results from which these advantages accrue, 
are as follows: 

First. — Growing plants, especially the deeper rooted ones 
as clover, bring up from the deeper soil where the roots of 
other plants cannot reach them, several substances which 
are useful to these more shallow rooted crops, and retain 
them in their leaves, stems and roots; and when these are 
plowed under the surface, they contribute these acquisitions 
to the upper soil and greatly enrich it. Thus, although 
nothing may be gained to the soil but what is taken from 
it, yet the gain is made from a portion of the soil which 
could not be reached by the crops to be benefited by it, to 
the portion where these crops can reach it. Thus it results 
in practically largely deepening the soil and extending the 
growth of the roots. 

Second. — This manuring is effected with the least loss and 
the greatest economy, and in no other manner can the same 
crop carry back to the soil an equal amount of fertilizing 
matter as in that of its growing leaves and stems. And the 
farmer will sooner and more cheaply fertilize his land by 
plowing in green crops than by any other method whatever. 

The selection of plants to be grown for this purpose is to 
be made from among those which grow most rapidly, and 
which produce the largest amount of vegetable matter in 
the shortest time, and at the least cost. There are a large 
number of plants which may be used in this way. 



CROPS FOR GREEN MANURING. 205 

Buckwheat grows rapidly, and two crops may be grown 
and plowed under in the course of four or five months. It 
is too well known to need further notice. 

Spurry is a plant not much known in America, but is 
extensively used in Germany for this purpose. Three crops 
may be grown where the season permits; the first sowing 
may be made in May, and the last is plowed in for the fol- 
lowing wheat crop in September or October. This plant is 
thus well adapted for this use in the Southern States. 

White Lupin is another crop largely grown in Europe 
for green manure. It matures in less than 120 days and 
furnishes 10 to 12 tons of herbage. It is particularly rich 
in nitrogen and belongs, as clover does, to the leguminous 
family of plants. 

Rape and Mustard are plants of the cabbage and tur- 
nip tribe ; the former may be sown in the fall for use in the 
spring; the latter is sown in the spring. 

Rye is a crop of considerable value for this use, as it may 
be sown in the fall and plowed in, in May; and then fol- 
lowed by two crops of buckwheat before the time for sow- 
ing fall wheat arrives. No other crop affords so much veg- 
etable matter in the period of its growth, at so little cost 
and at such an early season as this. For a manure for a 
corn crop it is the most convenient, for these reasons. 

Turnips may be sown in August, and will produce 10 
or 12 tons of green matter to be left to decay on the surface 
and then be plowed under in the spring. This crop has 
been used with advantage in the summer seeding of clover 
and grass, in August, for the purpose of being left during 
the winter for the protection afforded by the leaves, and in 
the spring for the manure afforded by the decaying roots. 

Red Clover is the most popular green manure on ac- 
count of its surpassing richness in nitrogen, yielding from a 
full crop as much as 180 pounds of this element to the acre. 
But its growth is slow, and it is only the second years crop 
which can be used for this purpose. One cutting may be 
made in June for hay, and the second growth turned under 
in September for wheat. Its large, fleshy, solid, tap roots, 



206 THE CULTUKE OF FARM CROPS. 

furnish a very large quantity of rich fertilizing matter 
for plowing in. The character of clover however prevents 
it from being used for the improvement of poor land. Its 
use is better adapted for the manuring of soils in good con- 
dition, and as a substitute for barn manure. Land has been 
kept in the most productive condition by the use of this 
crop alternating with wheat; two years being given to the 
clover and the second growth of the second year being 
plowed in for the wheat; gypsum being the only fertilizer used. 
The yield of wheat on this land, which was a naturally rich 
limestone clay loam in central New York, during over 40 
years, averaged 40 bushels per acre. 

The quantity of fertilizing matter added to the soil by the 
various crops above mentioned is given in the following table. 

of drv matter 
ft inlOOOlbs. <~ * 

X > , c . d ' 

Plant -r> £ *> • ^ • 5H « § For what soils 

Plant. gg s gg & _ .g, best fitted. 

Spurry 6500 199 21 14incb.es 3 Dry, sandy. 

White lupin 25000 188 12 25 *' 1 Any kind. 

Buckwheat 8000 170 10 12 " 2 Dry, sandy and clay. 

Rape 16000 214 16 8 " 1 Rich and fertile. 

Rye 8000 221 16 8 " 1 All. 

Turnips 12000 77 21 12 " 1 All. 

Clover 8000 250 14 25 " % Fertile, of all kinds. 

It is important to bear in mind in regard to the practice 
of green manuring, the following suggestions, viz: 

That a sufficient quantity of seed should be sown to keep 
the ground well covered and to secure as large a yield as 
possible, with the most effective smothering of weeds. 

That the crop should be plowed under at the time when 
the plants are about to burst into flower, for the purpose of 
securing the most advantage from their condition at that 
time, and to avoid stocking the land with seeds. 

That the vegetable matter should not be plowed under 
more than 4 or 5 inches, and that it should be completely 
covered with soil ; using, to secure this end, the usual chain 
loop attached to the beam of the plow and the end of the 
•double tree; so that the decomposition of the matter may be 
rapid and perfect, and that there may be no waste. 



COMPOSITION OF ROOTS AND STUBBLE. 207 

That this practice is adapted for the improvement of all 
soils. 

It is a common practice among farmers to plow under a 
sod of grass grown for the purpose, as manure. The usual 
seeding of clover and timothy is thus intended for breaking 
up at the end of the second year for the corn crop. It will 
be interesting to know what amount of fertilizing matter is 
thus contributed to the soil. The following table affords 
this information. 

Amounts and Composition of Roots and Stubble 
of the Following Crops. 

.{S g Nitrogen in Phosphoric 

^ fl organic matter acid. rotasn. 

C -•-» . v » ' 

«,3 per per per per per per 

£ § cent. acre. cent. acre. cent. acre. 

g >. in the in the 

p_ r£ ash. ash. 

Clover 6580 2.15 180 3.91 71 4.26 77 

Wheat 2240 0.68 22 1.08 11 1.70 17 

Rye 3400 1.26 62 1.55 24 1.90 30 

Oats 2200 0.71 25 2.08 28 1.48 24 

Timothy 1982 1.40 28.5 .03 6.5 .04 7.7 

Peas 2400 1.76 53. 2.24 14. 1.70 11.0 

Mixed grasses and clover 5000 2.00 100 2.10 58 1.80 48. 

These figures will j^robably be found below the average 
of what are called good crops. For it has been found that 
the living roots and stubble of a four year old sod has been 
equal in weight to one-sixth more than the weight of the 
last years crop. Also, that in an old pasture or meadow 
which has been laid down for many years, the actual vege- 
table matter contributed to the soil has been ascertained to 
be equal to four times the weight of the last years vegeta- 
tion above the surface. The author has found by careful 
measurement and weight, that the amount of vegetable mat- 
ter contributed to the soil per acre by turning under an old 
growth of quack grass, (Triticum repens), was equivalent 
in weight and bulk to 80 tons of ordinary stable manure. 

When land is in grass for a number of years there is a 
very large accumulation of organic matter in the soil from 
these sources, viz: the contributions from the atmosphere of 
combined carbon and nitrogen; from the dead and decay- 
ing roots and stems of the grass; and from the mineral parts 



208 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

of the soil which is favorably affected by the chemical ac- 
tion of the decaying, vegetable matter. The total amount 
of this accumulation is not accurately known, but is cer- 
tainly very large. And when the grass or hay from the 
land is all consumed upon the farm, and the manure is re- 
turned to the land, the soil of a permanent or old meadow 
becomes exceedingly rich in plant food, from the annual 
top dressings which it receives naturally from the decay of 
the leaves and stems and of the matured and used up roots. 



THE ART OF COMPOSTING. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

COMPOSTS. 

There are a large variety of substances which are not pre- 
cisely manures, but which contain more or less of valuable fer- 
tilizing matter, that may be gathered by farmers, and mingled 
in such a manner as to induce a process of mutual decomposi- 
tion by which valuable plant food may be procured. The 
art of mingling these substances, and of decomposing them 
so that they may be used as manure, is known as compost- 
ing. It is not much practiced in America, because farmers 
have scarcely been brought as yet to the point of exercising 
the strictest economy in this respect; but the time has come 
when every available opportunity for gathering fertilizing 
matters and converting them into food for crops, must be 
strictly and perseveringly sought and seized. The most im- 
portant of these are, peat; seaweed; salt marsh mud; leaves 
and the undergrowth of woods and forests; the waste from 
tanneries, consisting of the fleshings, hair, tan bark, and 
leather scraps; the waste from cider mills; from breweries;, 
from starch and sugar factories; from fish packing estab- 
lishments; from oil mills; sweepings of the streets of cities 
and towns; ashes of various kinds; wastes from slaughter 
houses; and in fact any waste matter which can be decom- 
posed by the ordinary processes which the farmer can em- 
ploy. 

To facilitate the consideration of this interesting subject, 
and before proceeding to describe the process of composting 
the various materials and reducing them to a fit condition 
for use, the following table of analyses of the various mat- 
ters referred to may be studied. 



210 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



Composition of Various Materials for Composts. 
Dried at 212° Fahr. 



Substances 100 lbs. 

Lobster shells 

Swamp muck 

Salt mud 

Bone black waste 

Pish packers wast i 

Starch waste 

Rotted Brewers grains. 

Refuse hops 

Tobacco stems 

Apple pomace 

Cotton seed meal 

Ash of salt marsh grass 

" forest leaves 

" ferns 

" potato tops [ % 

" beet sugar cake... 

" grape skins 

" seaweeds 

' ' Cotton seed hulls 



hard wodd (pure) 
" (leached) 

Soft wood 

Corn cobs 

Tan bark.... 

Soft coal 

Hard coal 



7.27 
34.40 
46.36 
10.65 
71.11 

8.10 
78.77 
81.00 
10.65 
82.00 

9.90 



P4 



Hi 

22.24 

1.24 

.66 



.18 
.26 
.27 
3.39 
.19 
.22 
3.7 
25.8 
8.3 
5.5 
2.5 
2.1 
16.4 
11.63 
13.34 
70.0 
74.0 
32.0 
20.0 
41.0 
5.0 
2.50 



1.30 
.29 
.31 



.15 

.10 
1.12 
.16 
.56 
2.9 
1.7 
4.5 
2.7 
0.5 
1.0 
11.2 
15.24 



3 

z 




CUtR 



V = 



.26 
.33 



.16 
.04 

.11 
7.22 
.87 
1.21 
23.1 
3.0 
25.2 
2.3 
3.6 
8.0 
17.1 
38.82 
24.16 
12.25 
1.60 
12.0 
45.0 
2.50 
.20 
.10 



S.52 

.23 
.15 
29.64 
.60 
.29 
.43 
.20 
.51 
.10 
1.26 
4.7 
3.4 
5.7 
1.0 
1.2 
3.4 
3.7 
13.67 
10.69 
6.0 
6.80 
4.0 
4.50 
1.20 
.14 
1.05 



4.50 

1.64 
.39 

2.21 
2.62 

.72 
.98 

2.65 
1.24 
3.73 



22.0 

5.0 
1.75 

2:}. 70 
4.58 
9.33 
2.91 
3.62 

14.66 
5.09 

15.00 



50.30 
39.00 

20.00 

10.40 

16. SO 

50.00 

4.50 

.40 

.16 



to the value of the 
It gives a basis for 



The above table offers a guide as 
above substances to a partial extent, 
calculating the precise value of the fertilizing elements men- 
tioned in a ton, or a load of each; but it does not give any 
»clue to the other valuable properties of these substances in 
the way of their mechanical or chemical effect upon the 
other materials of the compost, and upon the soil, after the 
compost has been used. 

From what has been previously said upon these effects, it 
will be readily perceived that they must be considerable, and 
that the addition to the soil of a large quantity of any of 
these materials with the other portions of the compost, must 
be of very great value. Indeed a few years of the use of 
such composts to the land has very much changed its char- 



FERMENTATION OF THE COMPOST 211 

acter, and has not only added much to its natural fertility, 
but it has developed this to a remarkable extent. 

In making composts, the bulk of the materials are inert 
and may not readily decay. It is therefore necessary to 
add to the mass something which may act as a ferment, and 
by which the necessary chemical action to effect decomposi- 
tion may be started. 

Lime is usually employed for this purpose; but at times 
fermenting manure is used; and sometimes both manure and 
lime are employed. The process is as follows. The various 
materials, sonie wet and some dry — but the bulk of them are 
wet, so that the dry substance may be saturated with mois- 
ture, and chiefly the whole are wet — are placed in layers 
of several inches thick and roughly mixed together. The 
lime or the manure, is mixed in layers through the mass; or 
at times the mixture is more perfectly made; and the heap 
is built up compactly, and well trodden, into a square flat 
form; having the top somewhat shallow to catch and retain 
the rain water. 

Fermentation soon begins and spreads through the mass. 
The organic matter decays with more or less rapidity, and 
the earthy matter or the peat in the heap, absorbs 
any ammonia that may be formed and holds it firmly; 
or the sulphuric acid that may be liberated in the 
decomposition will combine with it and form a stable 
compound. When the heat has spread through the 
w 7 hole mass, the heap is turned and again mixed, by begin- 
ning at one end and forking or shoveling it over and form- 
ing a new heap similar to the original one. The exposure 
to the air and the fresh mingling of the substances, soon 
produce a new fermentation and heat by which the mass is 
still more decomposed, and the nitrification made more com- 
plete. In a few months — and sooner in the summer — the 
compost becomes a homogeneous mass, dark in color and 
without any appearance of the raw materials of it by which 
they could be recognized. It is now manure, and in pro- 
portion to the character of the materials that have been used, 
it is equal to, or better in quality, than ordinary farm manure. 



212 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

When materials rich in the elements of plant food are 
used, such as swamp muck; sea weed; cotton seed; wood 
ashes; and lime; the resulting compost will have a value far 
exceeding that of barn yard manure, and will be propor- 
tionately effective in producing large crops. In this way 
the farmer may very largely extend the manurial resources 
of his farm at little expense, and by the expenditure of a 
moderate amount of labor at such times when other work 
is not pressing. 

Composts are used mostly for top dressing, on account of 
their finely pulverized and concentrated condition, and be- 
cause of the solubility of the plant food they contain. They 
are used for meadows, and for grain crops in their early 
stages of growth ; and are especially useful for roots, which 
require a large quantity of manure rich in available plant 
food. But a heap of well decomposed compost will never 
come amiss for any crop, at any time, when the farmer 
may want to get the best return for his labor. 



MINERAL MANURES. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

MINERAL MANURES. 

Although the mineral parts of plants — the ash — form a 
very small proportion of their substance, yet they are indis- 
pensable to their growth. Without silica, the corn or wheat 
plant could not stand erect, but would lie upon the ground; 
without lime and phosphoric acid, there could be no seed, 
and vegetable substance could not support any animal. The 
mineral elements of plant substance, in fact, form the skel- 
eton or frame so to speak, upon which the organic matter 
is built; just as the bones of an animal support the fibrous 
and vascular tissue which make up the apparent structure. 
Some plants indeed are so well supplied with mineral matter 
that their remains after the organic matter has decayed and 
has been dissolved away, make the most delicate and beau- 
tiful tissue, which remains intact after thousands of years dur- 
ing which vast masses of these skeletons or shells have been 
consolidated into clay or stone. Being thus indispensable 
to the growth of plant substance, the mineral elements of 
plant food bear a most important relation to the culture of 
farm crops, and furnish a subject of study to the farmer 
which he cannot ignore. 

Knowing what mineral substances are contained in plants, 
and knowing that these are all derived from the soil; also 
knowing that while the soil contains a large amount of all 
these mineral substances, they are not in an available con- 
dition for the food of plants, it is not difficult to arrive at a 
conclusion in regard to what must be supplied to the soil to 
ensure a satisfactory growth of crops. 

Moreover, it has been learned by long experience and 
careful experiment that certain alkaline substances exert a 
remarkable effect upon organic substances in the soil, when 
they are brought into contact with each other; and further 
that they have a very intimate relation with various changes 



214 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

which occur in the character of many mineral compounds 
in the soil, by which these are fitted to act as nutriment for 
plants. So that, on the whole, mineral manures or fertiliz- 
ers are of quite as great importance to the farmer as the 
other classes of manures, and should be equally well under- 
stood. 

The most important of the mineral manures are lime; 
gypsum; wood ashes; salt; phosphate of lime; potash; and 
guano. In these are contained every inorganic element of 
plant substance that is ever necessary for the growth of 
crops. Lime is the most important of them, not because it 
is any more requisite or indispensable than the others, but 
because of its peculiar effects upon the soil, and the large 
proportion of it which enters into the structure of vegetable 
tissue. 

Lime, as has been explained in the description of the me- 
tallic element calcium, is never found naturally excepting 
in a state of combination, and mostly as a carbonate, con- 
sisting of 43.7 per cent of carbonic acid with 56.3 per cent, 
of its own substance. 

Carbonate of lime is one of the most common of the rocks 
and is best known in the form of marble. It is frequently 
combined with carbonate of magnesia, which consists of 
51.7 per cent, of carbonic acid and 48.3 per cent, of mag- 
nesia. The carbonate of magnesia is combined in varying 
proportions with the carbonate of lime, and sometimes some 
alumina and phosphoric acid are mingled with these. When 
the magnesia and alumina are in excess, the lime has the 
property of setting hard under w T ater and is known as hy- 
draulic or water lime. This class of lime is useless, if not 
injurious, for agricultural purposes. Lime is procured by 
calcination, in kilns, of the limestone; in which process the 
carbonic acid is driven off and the caustic or quick lime re- 
mains. 2000 lbs. of limestone yields 1126 lbs. of quick lime,, 
and increases about one-third in bulk. Its affinity for wa- 
ter and carbonic acid is very active; in a moist atmosphere 
or by mixture, it absorbs about one-third its weight of wa- 
ter, (9 lbs. for every 28) swells to three times its original 



THE USE OF LIME. 215 

bulk, and falls into an extremely fine dry caustic powder, 
which is hydrate of lime. This is a true chemical combi- 
nation and is accompanied by much heat, sufficient to in- 
flame wood. It also slowly absorbs carbonic acid from the 
atmosphere until it regains the normal quantity, when it 
becomes carbonate of lime again and loses its caustic burn- 
ing or decomposing property. 

Lime is used as a manure in its caustic or quick condi- 
tion, and in the form of the fine, dry, pulverulent, hydrate. 
It is then spread over the land at the rate of 20 to 50 bush- 
els per acre. It is prepared for use by leaving the fresh 
lime in heaps in the field exposed to the air and to the rain, 
until it has absorbed the requisite quantity of moisture, and 
is then spread evenly with a long handled shovel. A very 
convenient way is to drop the lime in heaps of one bushel 
at distances of 2 rods — 33 feet — apart; which is equal to 40 
bushels per acre. It is then easily scattered with the long 
handled shovel, 16* feet each way from each heap, which 
makes an even distribution over the land. 

Lime is thus used when the land is sown with wheat in 
the fall, and grass and clover seed are to be sown in the 
spring. It is spread over the land afl^r the manure has 
been plowed in and the surface has been harrowed once ; the 
seed is then sown and harrowed in with the lime or drilled 
in, in the usual manner. Sometimes lime is used in the 
spring when a grass or clover sod is plowed under for corn. 
The results are the same in both cases. 

When lime is thus applied to the land it has the follow- 
ing effects. ♦ 

First. — It affords direct nutriment to the crop, being so 
finely divided and soluble in water — to the extent of one 
part in 700 of cold water and one part in 1100 of hot wa- 
ter — it is readily taken up by the water of the soil and is car- 
ried into the roots of plants and circulated through their tis- 
sues, where if is deposited, by the escape of the water in a 
pure state, and free from the lime, through the leaves. 

Second. — It exerts a very strong decomposing action up- 
on all organic substances, rapidly reducing them to their 



216 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

elements and preparing them for plant food. Its action in 
freshly manured soil, to which it is usually applied, is there- 
fore of the greatest advantage to the crop; this action going 
on slowly in the soil and providing a continuous supply of 
nutriment for the crops. 

Third. — It exerts a peculiar action as a nitrifying agent 
in the soil by which nitric acid is produced, and by its com- 
bination with this acid as a nitrate, by which the acid is 
fixed and retained in the soil, to be afterwards taken up by 
the potash or other alkaline substances, and finally absorbed 
as food for the crops; and thus become a most important 
source of the nitrogen found in the plants. 

Fourth. — It exerts a strong solvent action upon the sili- 
cates in the soil, by which inert and insoluble combinations 
of silica with potash, soda, magnesia, &c, are broken up; 
and these foods for plants are made available for the crops. 

Fifth. — Its strongly alkaline properties neutralize what- 
ever injurious acids may exist in the soil; and these are ren- 
dered innoxious, or in many cases beneficial to the growth 
of crops. 

Sixth. — It has a most beneficial mechanical action upon 
all soils; loosening, and mellowing, and warming, heavy 
cold ela) T s; and compacting and making more retentive of 
moisture light sands; and converting cold peaty soils into 
warm vegetable mold and fitting them for arable purposes. 
In addition to these most useful properties, lime has a direct 
beneficial action upon the growth of wheat and other grains, 
but especially upon grass and clover; the latter crop grow- 
ing most luxuriantly whenever lime has been applied to the 
land. 

Marl, is an impure form of carbonate of lime. It is 
frequently found underlying swamps, or in low grounds 
which are the dried up beds of former lakes or ponds in 
which minute shell fish — or more correctly molluscs — have 
existed. The shells of thousands of generations of these 
creatures have been collected at the bottom of the ponds; 
and have formed beds of considerable depth; leaving a mass 
of white pulverulent clayey matter intermingled with shells 



GYPSUM OR PLASTER. 217 

more or less broken, and compacted into a firm substance, 
which falls on exposure to the air into a coarse white pow- 
der. This substance is of considerable value. It may be 
burned into a fair quality of lime, when it is of use for the 
same purposes as stone lime. Or it may be spread on the 
land after it has dried and become pulverized, as a substi- 
tute for lime, with considerable benefit. 

Shell Lime, procured by burning the shells of oysters 
and other marine animals, has every useful property that 
stone lime possesses; and as the lime is pure, with the ex- 
ception of a small quantity of phosphoric acid — which is 
valuable — this form of lime becomes a most important source 
of supply to farmers near the sea coast or on the shores of 
the large tidal rivers. 

Limestone, ground into fine powder, has been offered to 
farmers as a fertilizer of late years; but its almost insoluble 
character renders it of questionable value, as compared with 
lime, which can be procured at less cost because it needs no 
grinding. Ground limestone is soluble only in water con- 
taining considerable carbonic acid in solution, and then on- 
ly to a small extent. Its value in special cases may be such 
as to make its use desirable; but experimental tests are al- 
ways required to discover its usefulness. No general rule 
can be given in regard to it, excepting that its value is 
wholly disproportionate to its cost, as compared with any 
other form of lime. 

Gypsum, is a compound of lime, sulphuric ccid, and wa- 
ter, in the proportion of 32 l>, 46 2, and 21 qarts of each, re- 
spectively. Its remarkable action upon some crops, as 
clover; peas; corn; cabbages; and turnips; has led to some 
erroneous notions as to the causes of this action, and the er- 
rors have been unfortunately fostered to some extent by 
inexperienced writers upon agricultural topics. These 
erroneous views are chiefly as follows. 

That gypsum gathers ammonia from the air and thus con- 
tributes this useful substance to the plants. 

That it gathers moisture from the air and furnishes it to 



218 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the crops during a dry season, when the supply in the soil 
may be inadequate. 

That it is a stimulant to plant growth and thus tends to 
exhaust the soil. 

These errors are very evident when the character of this 
substance is understood. 

First. — While gypsum in solution enters into a combina- 
tion with carbonate of ammonia and is decomposed by it, 
with the result of the formation of sulphate of ammonia and 
carbonate of lime, it has no more affinity for ammonia than 
the water of the atmosphere has, and whatever ammonia is- 
derived from the atmosphere by plants through the rain 
water, is carried into the soil and from thence by the water 
into the roots of the plants. Hence there is no necessity for 
the use of gypsum in the performance of this nutritive func- 
tion of plants. 

Second. — That gypsum does not absorb w r ater, having 
already in combination as much as it can take up. 

Third. — That plants cannot be stimulated into excessive 
growth by any one substance; but when any necessary nu- 
tritive element is deficient, the crop suffers and only gains 
its natural luxuriance when the absent element is supplied. 

Fourth. — The peculiar effect of gypsum upon the growth 
of crops containing a large proportion of nitrogen, is due to 
the contribution of sulphuric acid by it; the sulphur being 
required to form the nitrogenous compounds known as al- 
buminoids; all of which contain a notable proportion of 
sulphur. 

Thus the albumen, gluten, and legumin, of plants, are 
made up of nearly the same proportions of carbon, hydro- 
gen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur; and without the sul- 
phur these nitrogenous compounds could not be formed. 
And it is a fact, that the plants which contain most abun- 
dantly these nitrogenous compounds, are largely benefited in 
their growth by the use of gypsum. 

Gypsum is easily dissolved in 400 times its weight of wa- 
ter, and hence the small quantity — rarely exceeding 100 lbs. 
per acre — usually applied is very quickly carried into the 



PHOSPHATE OF LIME. 219 

roots of plants — but never through their leaves — and thus 
exerts its notable effect. If reference is made to the table 
in which the composition of the ash of plants is given, it 
will be seen that red clover, the grasses, white clover, and 
other leguminous plants; and cabbage, turnips, rape, mus- 
tard, and other plants of the cabbage or cruciferse tribe; all 
contain a large amount of sulphur and sulphuric acid in 
their ash. Thus is most clearly explained the peculiarly 
favorable results of an application of gypsum — 100 lbs. of 
Avhich convey to the soil 46^ lbs. of sulphuric acid. 

Wood Ashes, containing as they do all the inorganic 
elements of plants in a condition in which these are readily 
appropriated, necessarily make a most effective manure, and 
are useful to all crops and upon all kinds of soils that are in 
a proper condition to bear crops. It is unnecessary to say 
further than this in regard to them. 

Phosphate of Lime, exists naturally in the form of an 
abundant rock and is widely dispersed through the soil. It 
also exists in. vast beds, chiefly in North and South Caro- 
lina near the coast and along the banks of the tidal rivers 
in the form of remains of marine animals which have ex- 
isted in past ages. This substance is used in its raw state 
finely ground, and is known in commerce as Charleston 
floats — from the locality where it is chiefly dug and manu- 
factured. In this condition it is slowly soluble and has 
been found to exert a favorable effect upon such crops as it 
has been applied to, chiefly those however which are grown 
for their seed, as cotton; corn; wheat; and other grains. It 
is of most importance however in regard to its use for the 
manufacture of super phosphate of lime — to be hereafter 
described. In the form of "floats" it is used at the rate of 
about 1000 lbs. per"acre. These floats are ground as fine as 
flour, and although practically insoluble in pure water, are 
dissolved to some extent by water containing various acids, 
more especially carbonic acid, which acts upon the lime and 
so releases the phosphoric acid. This form of phosphate of 
lime contains from 24 to 49 per cent, of phosphoric acid, 
and the low price at which it is sold and the favorable me- 



220 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

chanical condition in which it is offered for sale, render it 
of considerable interest to farmers. 

Potash Salts, form one of the most important sources 
from which potash manures are derived. They arc pro- 
cured from the German salt mines and are largely imported 
into this country and sold at a low price, compared with 
their actual fertilizing value. They consist of varying pro- 
portions of potash in combination as sulphate, and chloride, 
with similar compounds of soda and magnesia. They are 
known in the trade as muriate (chloride) of potash, sulphate 
of potash, and kainite. 

Muriate of Potash is the most valuable of these salts 
as regards its contents of potash; but the excess of chlorine 
contained in it is believed to be injurious to some crops; 
while it is preferable for others which require this element 
in considerable quantity. It contains on the average 50 
per cent, of potash with some soda and magnesia, and at the 
common price of about $40 per ton, the potash in it costs 
about 4 cents a pound which makes it the cheapest source 
of this material. 

Sulphate of Potash, is a more popular form of these 
salts, and contains about 35 per cent, of potash. The sul- 
phuric acid contained in it is also valuable, and any excess 
of it in the salts is quickly combined with other alkaline 
matter in the soil and rendered useful, which is not the case 
with the chlorine of the muriate. Hence the sulphate bears 
a higher proportionate price in the market, and the potash 
in it costs nearly 7 cents per pound. A lower grade of sul- 
phate of potash contains 25 per cent, of potash, with consid- 
erable sulphate of magnesia; the potash in this form costs 
nearly 7 cents a pound. 

Kainite, is the name given to the inferior grades of these 

salts. A sample of a lot used by the author with excellent 

results on grass, fodder corn, and turnips, had the following 

composition, viz: 

Water 2.15 percent. 

Lime 82 " 

Magnesia 11.30 " 

Potash 16.48 " 

Sulphuric acid 21.91 " 



THE VALUE OF SALT. 221 

The potash in it, at the price of $14 per ton, cost, without 
allowance for ihe sulphuric acid, a little more than 4 cents 
per pound. 

Salt, is the only form of soda which is used as manure; 
and iliis because of its cheapness. As it can be purchased 
at about $6 per ton and contains but few impurities, it is a 
cheap manure for the return given. Some farmers have 
found no benefit from its use, but others have a high opin- 
ion of it. Crops such as mangels and beets, whose ash con- 
tains much soda, would naturally seem to be much benefited 
by it, upon general principles, and this expectation is con- 
firmed by the results. 600 lbs. per acre of salt has greatly 
benefited this crop as grown by the author, and a dressing 
of 500 lbs. per acre has been found useful to wheat, grass, 
and clover. A mixture of 100 lbs. of salt and 100 lbs. of 
gypsum per acre on one half of a timothy and clover field, 
had a most favorable effect; the whole field of 13 acres 
yielded 27 2 tons of hay at the first cutting; the dressed half 
gave 17 tons and the other half 10J. The difference was 
very apparent and was equally so at the second cutting, 
when the dressed half gave 9 tons and the other half was 
not thought worth cutting. A flock of sheep pastured on 
the aftermath gave their whole attention to the part which 
had been dressed, and spent but little time on the other 
part. The following year the field was in corn and was 
dressed with the same mixture of salt and gypsum with 
manifest benefit. 

Salt has been used as a manure from the earliest histori- 
cal periods, and this fact alone would give great weight to 
the prevalent belief in its value, although no doubt many 
extravagant claims have been made for it. It has been 
used for all crops, but more especially for wheat, barley, po- 
tatoes, grass, turnips, and mangels. Its effect on the grain 
crops is to stiffen the straw and produce a thin clear husk; 
the latter is especially valuable with barley, and increases 
its market value for malting and brewing. Wheat is also 
much improved in the same respects. 

It has been used for top dressing grass lands by English 



222 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

farmers with marked benefit on thin light soils, adding more 
than one ton of hay per acre to the usual yield of 2? tons. 
This fact, considering that England is surrounded by tha 
ocean, and no part of it is beyond the influences of the moist 
winds which come over the sea, effectually disposes of the 
objection that salt is of no value upon land subject to the 
influences of the sea air. No doubt there are many cases 
in which no good results have been derived from the use of 
salt. But this may be taken as a proof that the land in 
such cases has been already fully supplied with it and that 
some other kind of plant food w r as needed. . 

A very interesting experiment to show whether the soil 
contains salt in any appreciable quantity may be made as 
follows : one pound of the soil is taken in dry weather and 
washed with a pint of distilled, or pure rain water. The 
water is filtered through unsized or blotting paper and the 
clear liquid is collected in a clean glass bottle. If salt is 
present in the water, a white precipitate will be thrown 
down on the addition to it of a solution of nitrate of silver. 
Every 10 grains of the dried precipitate represents 4 grains 
of salt in the pound of soil tested. If a pound of soil yield 
one grain of salt, it will be equal to 500 lbs. upon an acre 
12 inches deep. If no more than this is contained in the 
soil, it will be very safe to conclude that salt may be use- 
fully applied to it. 

Guano, may properly be classed among mineral man- 
ures; for although it has been supposed to have been de- 
rived from the droppings of sea birds upon the islands where 
it has been procured, yet it is quite certain that some of the 
guanos imported and used as manure are of mineral origin 
although perhaps it has been — like coal — derived from or- 
ganic matter. The composition of guano varies considera- 
bly. Formerly the best guano brought from Peru and the 
adjacent islands, contained as much as 17 or 18 per cent, of 
ammonia, and from 30 to 45 per cent, of phosphate of lime- 
and was sold at the high price of $150 to $200 per ton. The 
best now imported has only from 7 to 10 per cent, of am- 
monia and 25 to 30 per cent, of phosphate of lime; while 



THE VALUE OF MINERAL MANURES. 223 

the phosphatic guanos are almost devoid of nitrogen in any 
form and contain from 20 to 50 per cent, of phosphate of 
lime; equivalent to about half as much phosphoric acid. 
The guanos now in the market are practically phosphatic 
manures, and are reduced to superphosphate by means of 
sulphuric acid, as will be explained in the next chapter un- 
der the head of superphosphate of lime. 

All these mineral manures are of exceedingly great value 
for the culture of farm crops; so much so that no farmer 
can afford to neglect them. They furnish plant food in the 
most available form and when used with skill and judgment 
return a large profit on their cost. The example given of 
the production of 15 tons of hay by the use of 600 lbs. each 
of salt and plaster costing less than $10 while the hay was 
worth at that time $300 is perhaps an unusually favorable 
one ; but thousands of cases are on record in which the use 
of this class of manures has returned in profit several times 
the money expended, while extra labor has been only re- 
quired to take care of the increased harvest. When an 
acre of land is made to produce double its former yield by 
the use of manures liberally applied, the cost of the manure 
is all the extra charge; the land, the labor in preparing it, 
and in the culture of the crop, are all. the same whether the 
yield be 10 bushels of wheat or 40; or 25 bushels of corn or 
SO. The enhanced crop then, less the cost of the manure, 
is the measure of the profit. 



THE CULT IKE OE FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
MANUFACTURED MANURES. 

The necessity for the production of the largest possible- 
crops to meet the exacting competition of the very exten- 
sive and fertile grain producing regions of the North-west, 
opened by the trans-continental railroads; together with the 
general depression of prices of agricultural products during 
several years past, has led to the introduction and use of a 
variety of manufactured manures; commonly called artifi- 
cial fertilizers. These consist chiefly of Superphosphate of 
Lime, made from bones, either raw or which have been 
boiled to extract the glue from them, or from the various 
mineral phosphates; the so called Special Fertilizers or com- 
plete manures, prepared for particular crops ; Sulphate of Am- 
monia, a w r aste product of the gas manufacture; Fish Scrap 
or Fish Guano, a refuse of the fish oil factories; Dried Blood 
and Flesh; Ground Bone; Wool Waste; Castor Oil Pom- 
ace; Leather Waste; Soot; Cotton Seed Cake, and other 
oil cakes; all of which furnish a very large amount of most 
valuable plant food for crops, and w T hich form the basis of a 
trade at present amounting to many million dollars, and 
rapidly extending and increasing in value and importance 
to the farmers. The most important of these is 
Superphosphate of Lime. 

This fertilizer consists of phosphate of lime in the form of 
bones; or the mineral apatite; or the organic remains of 
prehistoric animals which are found buried in vast quanti- 
ties near the sea coast of North and South Carolina, and 
known as Charleston phosphates; which are treated by sul- 
phuric acid. This acid decomposes the phosphate of lime, 
and unites with a portion of lime, leaving the phosphoric 
acid in a separated and soluble condition. The discovery 
of this process is due to the eminent German chemist Liebig, 
who was led to it by a series of investigations in regard to 



SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME. 225 

the cause of the favorable action of ground bone upon cer- 
tain crops. It was long supposed that this action was due 
to the organic matter of the bones, and it was not then sus- 
pected that the mineral part of the bones, which was known 
to consist in large part of phosphoric acid, had anything to 
do with the luxuriant growth of grass and root crops to 
which bones were applied. The experiments of Liebig 
proved that the phosphoric acid was really the most impor- 
tant element of the bones, and this was further shown by 
the fact that burned bones, bone ash, or "earth of bones," 
as it was called, exerted a very marked effect upon crops 
to which it was applied. But it was found that the phos- 
phate of lime, both as it existed in fresh bones and in the 
remains of extinct animals, was too slow in its effects and a 
large quantity was required to show any profitable results, 
Hence further experiments were made and it was found 
that when the ground bones were digested with a certain 
quantity of sulphuric acid, mixed with water, they became 
changed in character; that a portion of the lime in them 
was dissolved and united with the sulphuric acid forming sul- 
phate of lime or gypsum, leaving a double portion of the 
phosphoric acid combined with the remainder of the lime. 
In this state, the phosphate of lime or the phosphoric acid 
in it, was partly soluble in water and still more so in acid- 
ulated water; hence this double phosphate or bi-phospfyate 
of lime exerted a very much more active effect upon the 
crops than the bones did. It was further found that it was 
possible to take still more of the lime from the bones, leaving 
but one-third of it in combination with the phosphoric acid, 
and proportionately increasing the ratio of the acid; the re- 
sulting single lime, or mono-calcic or treble phosphate being 
called superphosphate of lime. This compound is soluble 
in water, and hence its effects are still more active than the 
former one upon crops to which it is applied. 

But in effect, this form of phosphate of lime is unstable, 
and easily reverts to its former condition by combining 
again with lime which it finds in the soil, or with iron or 
other bases, and thus becomes less soluble. 



226 THE CULTUBE or FARM CROPS. 

But it is still more soluble than the simple natural phos- 
phate and is therefore more available as plant food. 

This process of manufacture is carried on upon a large 
scale, and a large number of factories are now in operation 
making superphosphate, either from raw bones, boiled bones, 
or bone charcoal; and from the mineral phosphates. There 
is no difference in the result from any one of these mater- 
ials so far as the phosphoric acid is concerned, this is the 
same in all; but the raw bone contains a large quantity of 
organic matter containing nitrogen, hence the superphos- 
phate made from this kind of bone has more value than the 
other kinds. The extent of the manufacture of this class 
of fertilizers may be realized from the fact that more than 
400 different brands of it were analyzed by the Pennsyl- 
vania Agricultural department in 1883. 

From the wide field thus open to the nefarious purpose 
of dishonest persons, the manufacture of this class of ferti- 
lizers is placed under the purview and control of the va- 
rious State governments and stringent laws have been enacted 
to secure honest dealings on the part of the makers of these 
fertilizers. That this is necessary, and that it is also nec- 
essary for farmers to look closely to their own interests in 
this respect, the following analyses of various brands of 
superphosphates is a very clear proof. 



Superphosphates from 
Bone black 


&'§ 

© e 

Claimed. 
18.00 
17.00 
17.00 
18.00 
17.00 
31.00 
18.00 
13.00 
12.00 
13.00 
12.00 
15.00 
12.00 

. 12.00 


S 

Found. 

17.32 

12.75 

16.47 

16.93 

16.28 

28.92 

17.01 

8.76 

6.03 

7.07 

10.56 

13.36 

5.99 

5.26 


la a 

Cents. 
7.10 




8.3 


,, 


8.4 


(1 


7.7 


<< 


8.6 


Bones 


8.5 
7.8 


S. Carolina Rock 


6.9 


ii ii 


10.5 


ii ii 


10.3 


ii 


6.7 


u ii 


6.3 


ii ii 


10.3 


ii ii 


10.0 



REVERSION OF SUPERPHOSPHATE. 227 

Of these brands, it is seen some cost for the available 
phosphoric acid nearly twice as much as others, and it is of 
course requisite that great circumspection be used in the 
purchase of these costly forms of plant food. 

If the farmer wish to do so, he can make his own super- 
phosphate from bones in the following manner. A wooden 
vat is provided in which the bones, coarsely broken or 
ground fine as the case may be, are heaped and thoroughly 
wetted with water. Sulphuric acid is carefully poured up- 
on the heap of bones, and a strong effervescence at once 
takes place accompanied by considerable heat. The bone 
is shoveled over to keep it in condition to be acted upon by 
the acid. About 50 lbs. of acid is required for 100 lbs. of 
bones to make a complete decomposition. In course of time 
the bone is reduced to a pasty condition when it may be 
dried by the addition of wood ashes, or potash salts, and 
fish scrap, which will add the potash and nitrogen to the 
fertilizer to make it a complete manure for crops; that is 
one that contains nitrogen in an available form, soluble 
phosphoric acid, and potash. When the potash salts are 
used, there will be magnesia, soda and chlorine also added. 

Superphosphate of lime reverts to the condition of Di- 
phosphate or ordinary phosphate, when there is lime in the 
soil. This change however occurs slowly unless the lime is 
in excess, when the present use of the phosphate is neutral- 
ized because it is made insoluble. Hence superphosphate 
should never be used when the land is limed. 

It is usually applied to the fall grain crops in quantities 
varying from 200 to 400 lbs. per acre, and is sown by means 
of an attachment to the drill which drops it in the row near 
the seed, and thus makes it immediately available for the 
crop in its early stages and when the young plants need an 
abundant supply of food. Or it is sown broadcast as soon 
as the seed is sown and both are harrowed in together, when 
the drill is not used. It is also used for the corn crop either 
dropped in the hill at planting, or harrowed in before plant- 
ing. From its soluble character it should be brought as 
near the seed as possible, that it may be absorbed by the 



228 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

• 

roots as soon as they are capable of foraging in the soil for 
their food. It is also used as a special fertilizer for turnips, 
cabbages, and mangels; upon which it has a mos£ beneficial 
action. It is used for these crops at the rate of from 300 to 
800 lbs. per acre, according to the necessities of the soil. 
As a top dressing for meadows and pastures it is of the 
greatest use. 

This is readily seen when it is remembered that young 
animals are fed chiefly on grass and hay, and that from 
this food they must build up the solid frame upon which 
the fleshy form is built up. As more than half the sub- 
stance of bone consists of phosphate of lime, it is then very 
necessary that the young growing animal, as well as the 
cow which is yielding milk — which is rich in this compound 
as is requisite for the nourishment of young animals — should 
be supplied with food that contains this bone-making ma- 
terial in abundance, hence the necessity for supplying grass 
lands with this indispensable fertilizer. 

Complete or Special Manures are mixed fertilizers, 
which contain every element of barn yard manure except 
the carbon, which is supposed unnecessary, as the soil con- 
tains an abundance of it. The principal elements of plant 
food, the nitrogen; phosphoric acid.; and potash; are pro- 
vided in about the some proportions in which they exist in 
good stable manure. A comparison of a complete fertilizer, 
according to Prof. Villes formula, with barn yard manure, 
is given in the following table. 

Stable Complete 

Composition of 3 fan u re, Manure, 

2000 lbs. 100 lbs. 

Nitrogen 7 to 10 lbs. 7% lbs. 

"Phosphoric acid 4 to 9 lbs. 5to71bs. 

Potash 9 to 15 lbs. 7 to 8 lbs. 

Thus 100 lbs. of the complete manufactured manure at a 
cost of about $2. contains about as much fertilizing matter 
as one ton of the best stable manure, and in an immediately 
available condition for crops. 

Sulphate of Ammonia, is a refuse of the gas manu- 
facture and is a distillation from mineral coal. It has been 
made at times by the addition of sulphuric acid to stale 



ACTION OF NITROGENOUS FERTILIZERS. 229 

urine, and the evaporation of the mixture to dryness. It 
consists of 35 parts of ammonia; 53 lbs. of sulphuric acid; 
and 12 lbs. of water. It is thus an exceedingly concen- 
trated fertilizer and can be used only in combination with 
other substances or in very small quantities evenly spread 
over the soil. It is soluble and active in the soil, and ex- 
erts a correspondingly rapid and useful effect upon vegeta- 
tion, hence it is sold at a high price ; the nitrogen in it be- 
ing valued in the market at 18 J cents per pound. The 
present market price (wholesale) of this substance is $60 
per ton, and at the estimation of 20 J per cent, of nitrogen, 
this is thus procured at about 15 cents per pound. 

The action of this fertilizer is a matter of importance, as 
it may affect the growth of leaf or grain. Experiments with 
it have shown that it is especially useful for turnips, an ap- 
plication of 100 lbs of it having increased the crop from 13 
tons on unmanured soil, to 24l> tons upon the fertilized part 
of the field. Generally it has a most notable effect upon 
the foliage; but this is to be considered in relation to the 
effect of a luxuriant foliage upon the quantity of starch or 
gluten, which may be stored in the plant or in the seed. 
Thus a crop of wheat dressed with 100 lbs. of this salt per 
acre, gave not only an increased crop of grain, but the flour 
made from the grain yielded 10 i per cent, of gluten which 
was one per cent, more than that from any other application 
of manure, and somewhat more than the yield from nitrate 
of soda. This is an instance of how a fertilizer containing 
a large proportion of nitrogen, increased the quantity of ni- 
trogen in the crop. There has rarely been an instance in 
any experiment with this salt of ammonia, of its failure to 
increase the growth of leaf and grain. The large quantity 
of sulphuric acid no doubt has something to do with the in- 
crease of the gluten in wheat, as this substance contains 
sulphur; and on this account the use of sulphate of ammonia 
is often recommended in preference to the nitrate of soda 
for the supply of nitrogen to the soil. 

Fish Scrap is the waste of the fish oil manufacture. The 
fish, chiefly menhaden, which come near our coasts in enor- 



230 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

mous shoals, are steamed for the oil they contain; there- 
suiting mass of moist flesh and bone is then dried and fine- 
ly powdered. The substance thus produced is called fish 
scrap. It is one of the nitrogenous manures, but contains 
some phosphoric acid and a little potash. It has, as might 
be expected, somewhat the same character as Peruvian 
guano, which is derived from the excrement of sea fowl 
w T hich feed upon fish. An analysis offish scrap gives the 
following, from a good sample. 

Composition of Fish Scrap dried at 212° 

Moisture 9.00 per cent. 

Phosphoric acid 11.72 " 

Reverted phosphoric acid 4.41 " 

Insoluble phosphoric acid 7.31 " 

Potash 89 

Nitrogen 8.16 " 

Insoluble matter, lime, etc 3.70 " 

Value per ton, £49.35 

This is seen to be a valuable fertilizer, and by mixture 
with potash salts would make a most useful manure. Not 
being immediately soluble, but yet decomposing freely in 
the soil, it becomes available for the crop gradually; hence 
it may be applied early in the season, and its effects will 
continue to be apparent during the whole period of growth. 
It has been found especially useful for corn; market crops; 
potatoes ; and for grass and clover. Many farmers have 
found its useful effects much increased by treatment with 
sulphuric acid, by which the ammonia contained in it, or 
evolved during its decomposition, is changed to a sulphate; 
and its phosphate of lime becomes superphosphate; when its 
solubility being very much increased, it becomes much more 
available for the feeding of crops. The coarse fish scrap, 
unground, sells for a much less price than the kind of which 
the analysis is given above, and it makes an excellent ma- 
terial for enriching composts. One ton of it added to 10 
tons of fresh swamp muck, with a ton of potash salts and a 
ton of ground gypsum, has been found to make a most use- 
ful substitute for stable manure, and when used for a crop 
of mangels gave a very satisfactory yield, equal to that up- 
on adjoining parts of a field which were manured, one 



BONES. 231 

with 20 tons of good stable manure at a cost of $55., and 
the other with 1200 lbs. of complete artificial manure at a 
cost of $30. These quantities were equally divided between 
6 acres, and the yield over the whole field averaged a little 
over 1200 bushels per acre, with but little difference between 
the different parts of the field; the difference being in favor 
of'the complete artificial manure which yielded roots of 
large size. This result is what might be expected from the 
solubility and consequent availability of the complete man- 
ure, which was made up of superphosphate of lime, muriate 
of potash, and sulphate of ammonia. 

Dried Blood and Flesh. — The refuse of the large 
slaughtering establishments and the meat canning factories, 
furnishes a large amount of most valuable plant food which 
was formerly wasted. This is however mostly used by the 
manufacturers of fertilizers in the compounding of complete 
manures, or in the enrichment of superphosphates of the 
class known as ammoniated fertilizers. The rapid decom- 
position of these preparations of blood and flesh, causes the 
free production of ammonia, the loss of which is avoided 
by its combination with the free sulphuric acid of the super- 
phosphate and the formation of sulphate of ammonia. The 
composition of this substance is given in the table at the 
end of this chapter, along with that of the following waste 
matters used for manures. 

Bones have been used for manure for farm crops for 
many centuries. It is supposed that their value in this di- 
rection was first discovered by the extraordinary fertility 
of ancient battle fields which were brought under cultiva- 
tion, and in which the decaying bones formed a considera- 
ble element in the soil. Some years ago ground bones were 
the only artificial manure used to help out the always in- 
adequate farm manure, and it was the beneficial results 
from this fertilizer which started the investigations which 
resulted in the discovery of the value and method of mak- 
ing superphosphate of lime and ended in the present enor- 
mous manufacture and use of what are called artificial fer- 
tilizers. 



232 THE CULTURE OE FARM CROPS. 

Bones when dry, consist of 35 per cent, of gelatine; 55 
per cent, of phosphate of lime; 4 per cent, of carbonate of 
lime; 3 percent, of phosphate of magnesia; and 3 percent. 
of soda; potash, and common salt. Usually the gelatine of 

1»< nes is too valuable for the glue which is made from it to 
be left in the bones used for manure, and as this contains a 
large proportion of nitrogen, the manurial value of the 
hones is considerably decreased by its loss. The bone 
mostly used is that which has been steamed to extract the 
gelatine, and consists of phosphate of lime and the other 
mineral matters. These however are exceedingly valuable 
as plant food, and are desirable for their permanence in the 
soil. The good effects resulting from an application of 1000 
llts. of crushed bone per acre to grass land, have been per- 
ceptible at the end of 30 years; thus showing bones to be 
one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, of all manures. 

As phosphoric acid, of which bone phosphate contains 48 
per cent, of its weight, is a constituent of all farm plants, 
bones are found valuable under all circumstances; upon all 
soils, and for all crops; and never come amiss. The supply 
is however limited to the product from the animals 
slaughtereel and the refuse of the factories where bone is 
used in the arts. An analysis of common bone manure is 
given in the table above referred to. 

Wool Waste from woolen factories is an exceedingly 
valuable fertilizer for seme special uses. It is used exten- 
sively in the European and English hop yards, and is ap- 
plied yearly, being dug into the soil about the roots. Its 
principal fertilizing property is deriveel from the nitrogen 
and the sulphur it contains. Its analysis will be found be- 
low. 

Castor Oil Pomace; Soot from Sopt Coal; Cot- 
ton Seed; and Leather Scraps; are used for manure 
in localities where they can be procured without too much 
expense for transportation. With the exception of the last 
mentioned, these waste substances are of considerable value, 
chiefly for the nitrogen they contain, and form an excellent 
basis for enriching composts, or for top dressing grass lands. 



COMPOSITION OF VARIOUS FERTILIZERS. 233 

Leather Scraps are difficult to decompose, and decay- 
very slowly ; but they contain a large proportion of poten- 
tial nitrogen, and when plow T ed into the soil slowly give it 
up to the crops. 

The nitrogen they contain is thus of the least value of any 
kind used in fertilizers. As the leather is very cheap, it 
has offered a temptation to some unscrupulous dealers in 
fertilizers to mix it with their goods for the purpose of show- *■ 
ing on analysis, a large percentage of nitrogen; but as it is 
practically unavailable, the quantity of nitrogen thus shown 
is misleading, and unless explained is fraudulent. 
Composition of Various Fertilizers. Per Cent. 

+-* . O £* 

d g •£ ^ ci <g o 

5:9, tt ^ 1 •* 3 ° c os 

S« s s* p- g 3 g a -s~ 

o [z £ ft ce !5 C > 

Dried blood 7.65 8.10 6/2?, 1.08 $36.64 

Bone and flesh.... 14.93 4.36 10.52 4.91 32.01 

A seed f hulls !!...} 2 - 30 13 - 67 30 - 82 1L6S 15 - 24 2L65 50 - 30 

Ground bones 4.78 2.03 29.83 18.61 34.79 

Dried fish 9.24 6.20 40.00 

Dried flesh 12.05 1.96 50.00 

Ground horn 10.00 13.53 1.36 2.00 2S.28 

Wool Waste 17.71 3.66 34.00 

Soft coal soot 12.50 114.73 1.5 4.5 *2.00 25.46 .05 

Cotton seed 13.00 3.50 3.50 3.00 20.00 

•Cotton seed meal.. 14.00 7.00 3.00 2.00 35.00 

* In the form of sulphuric acid. 

f As ammonia. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



PART FIFTH. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
THE STRUCTURE AND GROWTH OF PLANTS. 

Having considered the nature of the various elements 
which enter into the structure of plants, ani their relations 
to vegetable growth, the nature of the soil, its formation, 
composition, and its relation to the growth of crops, with 
the various methods by which it may be improved and better 
fitted for the purposes of cultivation, it remains now to con- 
sider the nature of vegetable life and growth, and how these 
are dependent upon the labors and intelligent skill of the 
farmer for their full and profitable development. 

In considering this part of our subject as it relates to the 
culture of farm crops, we are brought face to face with the 
great mystery which lies beyond the reach of the most acute 
mental power; which defies every effort of human intelli- 
gence to understand or explain; and eludes the grasp of the 
most profound philosophy. This impenetrable mystery is 
Life. However this is viewed, it is a transcendent miracle. 
Its mere consideration throws us back upon our own power- 
lessness to reach even a comprehension of what it is. We 
can perceive the approaches to it; the chemical operations 
by which it is made possible and which start its develop- 
ment; but as one might look over a road crossing a rounded 
hill in front of him, and the way appears plain until the 
crest is reached, and then the sight plunges into infinity, 
and finds no resting place in the ethereal blue beyond its 
scope; so the mind follows all the various changes and pro- 
cesses which precede the bursting of a germ into active life, 
and recognizes the relations of these to certain natural laws, 
and to known forces, but the nature of the vital power which 



GROWTH OF PLANTS. 235 

controls all these, whim sets in action the weak but yet in- 
vincible germ, which guides with unerring instinct the plant 
in the choice of its food, the potent agency which works so 
silently, but yet exerts a power which is incomprehensibly 
great, the life which springs from death, which is constantly 
perishing and rising from its ashes, the Vital Principle which 
crowns the labors of the farmer with success, which covers 
his fields with verdure and in the season with golden grain 
and fills his barns with wealth, making animal existence 
possible and supporting the higher life of man with his still 
more wonderful intelligent mind — all this living system is a 
miracle before which the mind of man lies helpless and con- 
fesses itself unable to comprehend it. This brings us in fact 
face to face with the omnipotent Creator; whether this be 
the personal existence which some believe, or a process of 
evolution by which a primeval germ has gradually pro- 
gressed from the lowest form of organized matter, up to the 
highest organized form of life — a reasoning man. 

We cannot consider this from a chemial point of view, 
because vital force overrides chemical laws and is beyond 
our comprehension. But all force is mysterious. Gravita- 
tion is something, the essential nature of which we cannot 
penetrate, yet we can understand its manner of action and 
its relations to matter; but while gravity cannot be sus- 
pended, vital force may be and all the wonderful potential 
agency which exists in a seed may remain undeveloped for 
years. This seems to comprise the sum of all the differ- 
ences between other forces and vital force or life. 

Vital force, has been described as a collective term em- 
bracing all those causes upon which the phenomena of life 
depend. Plants and animals, as living beings, are onlv 
parts of the great universe; are governed by its laws; and 
are to be studied by the same methods as all other phenom- 
ena of nature. 

Every plant springs from a seed, and every seed contains 
a rudiment of a new plant, called the embryo or germ. The 
germ is imbedded in the seed, in a protecting mass consist- 
ing chiefly of starch and gluten. If a grain of corn is cut 



236 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

across through its thinnest part, an oval receptacle is found 
in which is seen the germ surrounded by the starchy sub- 
stance of the grain. Here the germ lies dormant, at the 
disposal of certain agencies by which the principle of life 
contained in it is awakened and brought into active exis- 
tence. These agencies are moisture and heat. 

It has been shown that these two agencies, moisture and 
heat, are necessary for the development of chemical action ; 
and the vitalizing of the living principle in the dormant 
germ is due to this action. AVhen the conditions necessary 
to develop this required chemical action are effected, the 
germ awakens from its slumber, puts forth its latent power, 
starts into motion, and begins to form new cells by w T hich 
its substance is increased at the expense of the enveloping 
matter, which is decomposed and absorbed. This process 
is called germination. 

When a seed is placed in the soil and covered from the 
light, it absorbs moisture. Unless the temperature is above 
a certain point no action is developed; but when the tem- 
perature reaches the right point which varies considerably 
with different seeds, some of which will germinate in ice 
and some require a heat equal to that of boiling water, oxy- 
gen is absorbed, and the gluten is in part changed to dias- 
tase, which is a peculiar substance not Avell understood as 
yet, but which has the property of changing starch to sugar. 
One part of diastase is able to convert 2000 parts of starch 
into sugar, and it is this substance which exists in the malt 
or grown grain, that furnishes the agency for the conversion 
of the barley or corn meal into sugar for the purposes of 
brewing. This conversion of the starch of the seed into 
sugar precedes the action of the embryo; for the germ can- 
not increase its substance except from the matter absorbed 
by it, and which furnishes the materials for building up 
new cells. The germ now expands by the formation of new 
cells, and pushes forth the radicle or root, which strikes into 
the soil in search of nutriment; and the spire or stem, which 
extends upwards into the air, where it puts forth leaves. 
The plant now passes into a new stage of existence and be- 



STRUCTURE OF CELLS. 237 

comes self-supporting; exercising a power to organize the 
elements of plant growth which it finds in the soil and in 
the air, and which contribute to its nourishment. Hereto- 
fore it has merely assimilated the already organized sugar 
which has been derived from the starch of the seed; just as 
the chick in the egg subsists upon the organized matter of 
the yolk which is absorbed and converted by a mere change 
of form into animal tissue. Now it begins to exercise a true 
vital function, viz: the change of inorganic matter into or- 
ganized substance, the tissue of plants, which transformation 
is effected by the aid of the air which is inspired through 
the leaves. 

The mechanism of plant growth consists of very minute 
bodies called cells, and in these the vital function is concen- 
trated and performed. These vary in size from a twenty- 
fifth, to one fifteen hundredth part of an inch in diameter, 
and are usually round or oval in form. When compressed 
in the act of growth, these cells take on various other shapes 
as the pressure may cause them; and become flat or disc 
like; hexagonal; elongated; and angular. The cells are 
easily perceived by the aid of a microscope in the pith of a 
corn stalk, or of the elder, or in the pulp of fruit, or the 
flesh of a potato. 

The cells consist of an outer wall or membrane, a lining 
sac, and within this a nucleus or small body which is the 
truly active principle of vitality. The outer wall consists 
of cellulose or woody fiber, which is identical in composition 
with starch, and is insoluble in water or alcohol. It is near- 
ly pure in elder pith, and in the cotton and linen fiber. Its- 
chemical formula is C12 H20 O10, which is precisely the same 
as that of starch. Gum is represented by the formula C12 
H22 On which is that of starch increased by one atom of 
water, viz : H2 O; while the addition of one more atom of 
water changes the gum into sugar, represented by C12 Hj4 
O12. Thus it is seen that the change of the starch of the 
seed into sugar in the process of germination, is simply pro- 
duced by the combination of 2 atoms of water (Hi O2) with 
the atom of starch C12 H20 O10. 



238 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

The cell contains a viscid albuminous fluid called proto- 
plasm, (the beginning of life) in which numerous small 
granules float. These granules are the germs or nuclei of 
new cells, and the foundation from which growth of plants 
proceeds. The perfected cells burst and set free the enclosed 
granules. A delicate membrane appears on the surface of 
the granule, and gradually extending beyond its boundary, 
forms a new cell. The new cell immediately absorbs the 
requisite material for its vital contents of protoplasm, and 
granular matter from the sap of the plant, and thus com- 
pletes its functions. Thus the building up of the plant tis- 
sue goes on until it is arrested by the fulfillment of its pur- 
pose; the ripening of its seed; and its subsequent death; 
when the tissue begins to decay and is decomposed finally 
into its elements and furnishes food for a future race of 
plants. 

Other cells increase by division. The contents of the cell 
become separated, and a new 7 wall is formed between the 
separated granules; thus producing new cells each contain- 
ing its granule or nucleus. This granule increases in size 
and separates, forming a mass which in its turn separates 
into individuals; and the formation of neAV cells is repeated^ 
In this manner the plant tissue grows and increases from its 
termination or borders; the subdivision going on indefinitely 
as long as the material is furnished for the growth of the 
cells. 

A simple illustration of this beautiful process may be giv- 
en. If we suppose the cell to be a brick, and the brick to 
divide itself into separate parts by the elongation of each 
end, and the widening of its sides and faces, and each part 
to grow to be a complete brick, and each of these then to 
subdivide itself again into separate parts, as before, and that 
this process goes on continually and in such directions as to 
form walls, with cross partitions, and the angular bounda- 
ries and openings for doors and windows and every other 
requisite for a building, we may then form some idea of how 
a plant is formed and grows, and is built up into root and 
stem and leaves and fruit, until the whole is completed. 



NUTRITION OF CELLS. 239 

The nutrition of the plant is accomplished by means of a 
peculiar property of the membrane which forms the wall of 
the cell. This property consists of a power of the cell mem- 
brane to combine with the fluid in contact on one side of it, 
and to decompose it, and thus pass it out on the other side 
of it; or to transpose it in some way through its substance. 
Thus if a piece of wet bladder is tied over the end of a tube, 
and the tube is filled to a certain height with alcohol and 
then immersed in water, the water immediately begins to 
pass through the bladder and mingles with the alcohol; 
while the alcohol passes through the bladder and mixes with 
the water on the other side of it. The same movement takes 
place with solutions; but the cell membrane has the power 
of retaining what it requires for the nutriment of its con- 
tents; and building up its own tissue; and then of permit- 
ting the transmission of the remainder through its walls to 
the next cell. In this way the water of the soil containing 
in solution the food which the plants require, is absorbed 
through the cells of the fine feeding roots, and is passed 
through from one to another of the many millions existing 
in the plant, until it reaches the leaves; when, disburdened 
of its load of nutriment which is all absorbed by the cells, 
it passes off through the pores of the leaves by evaporation 
into the outer air. 

Cells are the minute factories of the universe, in which 
the vast forces which we call Life are constantly operating 
to change and transform inorganic matter into organized 
structures, by means of a constant flow and transmission of 
fluids through them. The force by which these fluids are 
transported from the distant termination of a root to the 
uttermost leaf at the top of the highest tree, is the delicate 
one above described, and is called osmose. What the power 
is by which the matter in solution is changed into organized 
living and moving substance we know not; but we call it 
vital force, and although its action is imperceptible to us 
except by its results, yet the power exerted is so enormous, 
that each pound of carbon fixed in the substance of a croj3, 
requires an equivalent of power which is sufficient to raise 



240 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

a weight of one ton 500 feet high; or 500 tons a foot high. 
What wonderful exercise of power is then going on unper- 
ceived by the farmer as he sees his crops growing and com- 
bining a thousand pounds of carbon in his crop of hay upon 
each acre; thus exerting a force equal to that of throwing 
a weight of a ton 500,000 feet , or 100 miles up above the 
surface of the earth. Truly the farmer lives amid the most 
wondrous forces of nature, equal in intensity to those which 
produce earthquakes, cause volcanoes to burst with liquid 
fire, and rend mountains asunder; yet he does not perceive t 
it, until the minds eye is turned upon the hidden secrets 
which lie in the tender rootlet and the verdant leaf, as well 
as in the great stem of the most ancient monarch of the 
forest. 



THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. 



CHAPTEK XXXV. 
THE FUNCTIONS OF THE ROOTS. 

The roots of plants perform two offices ; one is to support 
the plant in the soil; the other is to gather food and convey 
it into the plant. In fact the roots of plants are the mouths 
by which their food is introduced into the circulation. 

The roots possess a power of selecting suitable matter from 
the soil for the nutrition of the plant; but whether or not 
they have the ability, or exercise any power, to prepare the 
food for assimilation, is not certainly determined. There 
is reason to believe, however, that to some extent the roots 
not only select suitable nutriment from the soil but also pre- 
pare such food as may be required from the imperfect ma- 
terials which exist in the soil. Roots seem to have the pow- 
er of rejecting unsuitable or unnecessary matter which may 
have been absorbed, and has answered its purpose; but for 
which there is no further use. All these functions have a 
most intimate relation to the growth of crops, and hence 
furnish a most important subject for the careful study of 
the farmer. 

The absorptive function of the roots is exercised by ex- 
ceedingly numerous and very fine hair like fibers, which 
are attached to the ultimate thread like ramifications of the 
visible roots. From the difficulty of separating these mi- 
nute and exceedingly weak rootlets from the soil in which 
they are enveloped, and which they grasp firmly, it is diffi- 
cult to examine closely the form of the root to its smallest 
fiber; but a very good example maybe obtained by start- 
ing a seed to grow in fine sand in a small pot, and watering 
it with weak manure water until the sand is filled with the 
roots. The ball of sand is then washed from the roots, and 
the very large comparative growth of them as compared 
with the small size of the plants, and their peculiar structure 



242 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

can be easily studied. The root hairs will be found attached, 
much like the bristles to a bottle brush, to the smallest fi- 
bers of the root. These so-called root hairs are the absorp- 
tive organs of the roots. As the plant grows, the roots 
gradually become stronger harder and more woody, as is 
consistent with their mechanical purpose to uphold the 
plant; and the latest growth of roots only, become feeders. 
The precise way in which roots absorb the plant food, 
and their functions are accomplished, is still a matter of 
some uncertainty; but the jn-ocess of osmose is probably 
that by which the solutions of the various substances of 
which plant food consists are absorbed. The dissolved mat- 
ter in the soil in which the roots are immersed, passes 
through the cell membranes in the manner previously de- 
scribed, together with as much water as may be needed to 
supply the needs of the plants. It is common to say that 
the food enters through the pores of the roots; but this is 
more a figure of speech than a reality ; for under the pres- 
ent belief in regard to the action of osmose the existence of 
l^ores or openings in the membranes is not necessary. How- 
ever it is very well ascertained that no solid substance, how- 
ever finely divided it may be, can enter the roots of j^lants; 
and only such as is dissolved in water. 

ISTor do the roots absorb air or other gaseous matter un- 
less it is dissolved in water. If a plant is grown in water 
in which carbonic acid gas is dissolved, the gas gradually 
disappears as it is extracted by the roots. If a plant is 
grown with the roots in a bottle partly filled with water, the 
air in the bottle is gradually deprived of its oxygen to re- 
place that which has been extracted from the water. But 
if instead of air, the bottle is filled up with carbonic acid, 
the plant will droop and soon die; the same will happen if 
nitrogen, or hydrogen gas, is substituted for atmospheric 
air. This should not be accepted as a proof that these gases 
are noxious to plants, but rather that they exclude the oxy- 
gen which is indispensable for all living beings; plants or 
animals. 

That roots select their food from a variety of substances 



HOW PLANTS FEED. 243 

in the soil, precisely as fowls will select grains of wheat from 
among sand or gravel or sawdust cannot be doubted. If 
any necessary substance required for the growth of plants 
is absent from the soil, the crop will refuse to grow. If a 
seed is sown in pure quartz sand the young plant will per- 
ish as soon as the nutriment of the seed is exhausted. If 
the plant is fed with a mixture of lime, phosphoric acid, 
and the other elements of its composition, it will grow to 
maturity ; but if one of these are absent it will not survive. 
If other substances are offered to it in place of its needed 
food it will not take up those instead of these. It will not 
appropriate magnesia in place of lime; nor soda instead of 
potash. If various plants are grown side by side in the same 
soil, each will still extract from the soil its own peculiar 
food and will leave in its ash its own peculiar j^ropor- 
tions of various mineral matters. If a bean be grown 
near a stalk of corn, the ash of the corn will contain a large 
proportion of silica, but that of the bean very little. Abun- 
dant proof is not wanting to show that plants select their 
food from the soil, according to their own necessities, and 
exhibit in this way an instinct much like that of animals. 

Moreover plants refuse to absorb useless matter, or if it 
is necessarily taken into the roots, it is returned to the soil; 
it is not stored up in their tissues; and they perish when 
noxious matter is absorbed by which the chemical action 
and assimilation of their proper food is interfered with. 

On the whole, the conclusion seems to be reasonable, that 
the roots of plants select from the soil, in preference, those 
substances which their nature and composition render nec- 
essary for them, and in certain proportions; that to a cer- 
tain and very narrow extent they have the power to substi- 
tute other substances in place of those which they would 
prefer naturally ; and that they refuse admission to certain 
useless or injurious substances, although they are unable 
certainly to discriminate against and reject everything that 
may be hurtful or useless to them. 

Another function of roots is the power to prepare food 
for themselves from the store of inert matter in the soil, in 



244 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the absence of a sufficient supply to meet their wants. It 
is known that the roots of plants exert a corrosive action 
upon ihe stones in the soil, and upon rocks with which they 
come in contact. This they do by the excretion of acetic 
acid, and this acid is found in the soil in which young plants 
have been grown for experimental purposes. Koots of 
plants have been known to form a network of lines upon 
stones and rocks against which they have grown, and to 
have caused the solution of the mineral matter for their own 
use. Lichens constantly exert this effect upon the rocks 
upon which they grow. Koots of grape vines have been 
known to wholly envelop a bone with a mass of fibers, and 
to have caused the decomposition of the bony matter for 
their own support. 

Still another function of roots is the power to excrete 
useless matter from their substance. This is shown by the 
fact that at various periods of growth plants contain differ- 
ent proportions of certain mineral matters. Thus a wheat 
plant contains about 8 per cent, of ash previous to the bloom- 
ing period; 53 per cent, when in flower; and but 31 per 
cent, when fully ripe. It may be supposed that this dimin- 
ution of t lie ash may be caused by the increase in organic 
matter which affected the ratio. But there is a very im- 
portant change in the character of the ash at these periods; 
for instance, the silica in it varies from 12] to 26 and 51 
per cent, according to the variation of time mentioned. 
Thus while the silica is increased 4 times, the total ash is 
reduced nearly one-third. There must then have been a 
diminution of other parts of the mineral matter, which can 
only have taken place by their rejection from the plant 
through the roots. 

This process of rejection of useless matter however is not 
of sufficient importance to affect methods of culture of dif- 
ferent crops. It was formerly believed that the matter re- 
jected or excreted by one crop was of great use as food to a 
succeeding one; and this was made the basis for explaining 
the beneficial result from a rotation of crops. But this 
theory is now obsolete, and the advantage of a rotation of 



HOW ROOTS STORE UP STARCH. 245 

crops is more satisfactorily and reasonably explained, as 
will be shown in a succeeding chapter. 

More as a matter of special than general interest, another 
function of the roots is mentioned in passing. It is the 
power of storing up matter sometimes differing from any 
kind found in the plant, and at other times having a close 
similarity with it. Thus we have roots which contain sub- 
stances entirely different from any found in other parts of 
the plant but which must necessarily have passed through 
the plant and returned to the root. The various medicinal 
roots ; the root of the cotton plant; and of rhubarb ; are ex- 
amples of this kind. Of the other kind are those roots, as 
the turnip, carrot, and parsnip, in which a very large quan- 
tity of starch, sugar, etc., is stored up; and also those tu- 
bers, as the sw T eet potato, and the common potato, which con- 
tain much starch. All this matter has been elaborated in 
the plant and returned to the roots. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE STEMS. 

The stem performs two offices as the roots also do; to 
sustain the leaves and fruit, and to convey from the roots 
to the leaves the nutriment which the former have gathered 
from the soil; as well as to return to the roots whatever sap 
or nutritious matter the roots require for their growth; to- 
gether with any excess of it which has not been used by 
the plant. It may be questioned if there is ever any ex- 
cess of such matter taken into the plant, and if the roots 
do not absorb precisely so much and no more food than the 
plant requires. But we have seen that the roots do dis- 
charge from the plant some matter which is in excess of 
that required, and it is probable that a constant circulation 
always goes on through the plant, from the roots through 
the stem to the leaves, and back through the stem to the 
roots. 

Plants are divided by botanists into two great classes, 
Endogenous, or those whose stem increases by additions of 
cellular tissue within it; and Exogenous, or those whose 
stems grow by additions to the outside. The first class is 
represented by the palm tree, and all the great grass fam- 
ily of plants, wdiich include corn, wheat, sorghum, and all 
those plants which have hollow and jointed stems, or a pithy 
center surrounded by a hard outer casing; but do not have 
bark; the other class is represented by the majority of 
plants, which like trees, increase by layers of tissue on the 
outside of the stem between the wood and the bark. The 
plants of greater interest to the farmer belong chiefly to 
the first class; but in both, the stem exerts similar functions 
and has similar relations to the growth of the plants. 

The stem is a prolongation of the upper portion of the 
root, and consists of a mass of longitudinal, hollow, tubular, 
"vessels, through which the sap circulates from the root to 



CIRCULATION OF SAP IN THE STEM. 247 

the leaves and back again. This, with the support of the 
leaves, is the mechanical function of the stem. But the 
stem has a chemical or nutritive function also; for as the 
sap ascends through it to the leaves it undergoes certain 
changes, by which it is fitted for assimilation in the leaves. 

The water which enters the roots and which contains 
'certain nutritive substances in solution, passes on to the 
stem and ascends to the leaves where it diffuses itself over 
•-their exceedingly large aggregate surface, and then de- 
scends through the stem to the roots. When the sap, or 
what remains of it after having deposited its load of ali- 
ment through the leaves, branches, and stems, reaches the 
roots again, it is necessarily much changed in character, 
having been exhausted of its burden or so much of it, as 
has been utilized by the plant. It then deposits in the 
cells of the roots what these require for their growth, and 
it is then perhaps completely used up or has been deprived 
of its dissolved matter. At any rate then it either mingles 
with the upward current, or it escapes from the roots as 
useless matter. 

But what causes this upward and downward motion of 
the sap? It has been attributed to the action of the ab- 
sorptive and decomposing agency of membraneous matter 
referred to as osmose; and this is the most probable cause 
of it; it has also been explained by the action of capillary 
attraction; by the pressure of the atmosphere acting upon 
a vacuum produced in the plant; but whatever may be the 
nature of the force by which the circulation is produced, 
its results are the same, and its effects upon the growth of 
the plant are not changed. 

The outer covering of the stem of a tree which is called 
the bark, and the leafy envelope of the stem of a grass 
have much in common in regard to the nutrition of the 
plant, and what happen^ in one case is duplicated in anoth- 
er with but very little variation; excepting that in such 
plants as wheat, which have but little foliage, the assimilat- 
ing functions of the leaves are performed by the stems in 
great part. The sap then which is conveyed upwards from 



'248 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the root through the stem is exposed to the action of the 
oxygen of the air which is absorbed, and is elaborated into 
nutritive matter which is deposited in the cells of the leaves 
and of the stem, as the current descends, as woody fiber; 
starch; and albuminous matter. This process is analogous 
to the circulation of nutriment through the digestive and 
assimilative organs of animals, into and through the lungs 
and through the arteries and capillary vessels which are 
scattered in the finest network all through the tissue, and 
from which the solid substance of the animal is deposited. 
Thus the stem increases in growth by deposit of new mat- 
ter; but in the manner above described as the character of 
the plant differs. This deposit is made on the inner part 
of the stems of most of the plants which are grown as farm 
crops, but on the outside of the wood and under the bark 
of trees, forming what is called the cambium layer, between 
the wood and the bark. 

But by far the larger part of the w T ater absorbed by the 
roots and passing upwards through the stem is evaporated 
by the leaves. A small sunflower plant no more than 3 
feet high, draws up from the roots through the stem to the 
leaves and exhales from these, about 30 ounces of water in 
24 hours; and the enormous quantity of water which passes 
through the stems of the trees upon one acre of forest land 
is estimated at several tons per day. 



HOW LEAVES ARE FORMED. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LEAVES. 

Xieaves consist of a woody and a cellular part. The 
woody part consists of a framework of ribs and veins upon 
which is spread cellular tissue. These serve not only to 
strengthen and support the leaf, but also to introduce and 
distribute the ascending sap through the veinlets and cellu- 
lar tissue. The cellular portion is the green pulp, and is 
nearly the same as the green layer of the stem. So that 
the leaf may be considered as an extension or expansion of 
the fibrous and green layers of the outer covering of the 
stem, and the whole of it is covered by a skin or epidermis 
like that of the stem. 

The green pulp of the leaf consists of cells of various 
forms loosely arranged, and leaving many irregular spaces 
between them; these spaces form air passages which com- 
municate with each other throughout the whole leaf. The 
green color is due to minute green grains which lie loosely 
in the cells. This coloring matter is known as chlorophyll, 
or the green of the leaf. It is this green matter, when de- 
composed into the primary colors of yellow and blue, which 
is supposed to give the rich yellow color to the butter of 
cows, and the yellow color of leaves which have ripened 
and faded in the fall of the year. The green tissue of leaves 
diners on the upper and lower sides of the leaves; the for- 
mer being of a darker green, because of the close contact of 
the cells; the under side being light green because of the 
many open spaces between the loosely placed cells. 

The leaves are provided with a vast number of pores 
called "stomates," which afford communication between the 
passages among the cells and the air. Through these, the 
Tapor of water, air and gases, can readily escape or enter 
as the case may be. A pair of cells acting as valves guard 
the opening of each j> ore l and when dried, these contract 
and close the opening so as to promptly arrest the escape of 



250 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

moisture in dry weather, and expand and open it when moist. 
It is the action of these contracting cella which cause Leaves 
to curl in very dry weather. These air pores are very nu- 
merous od the under side of the leaves, varying in Dumber 

from 1000 to 170,000 to the Square inch of surface. A leaf 

of corn will therefore have many millions of these breath- 
ing pores upon its Surface; and an apple leaf, which is not 
80 well provided with these organs, has only about 100,000 
of them to each leaf. 

It is through these pores that the leaves perform their 
mosl important office, viz: thatof elaborating the crude sap 
into organic matter which is deposited throughout the plant, 
and from which its substance is formed. The water in ex- 
of the needs of the plant is exhaled through these pores, 
and thus the solid matter of the sap is deposited. 

It is also by these pores that air enters into the # leaves, 
and mingling with the sap product's such chemical changes 
in it as fit it for its purpose. The air also enters and brings 
in with it the carbonic acid which is mixed with it, in the 
proportion of one twenty-five hundredth part of its bulk. 
This carbonic acid is supposed to furnish a large part of the 
carbon of which plants consist, but as the water taken in 
by the roots also contains carbonic acid in solution, there is 
no doubt that a large part of the carbon of plants is derived 
in this way through the soil. Water and carbonic acid 
taken in by the leaves (or by the roots) are the raw mater- 
ials of which the fabric of plants are mostly made up; and 
to change these dead mineral matters into living organic 
matter is the principal function of the leaves. 

This function is performed in the green leaves alone, and 
only in the light of the sun. The sun beam is the giver of 
life to the dead matter, and the grand chemical agency of 
all plant growth. The proof of this is one of the simplest 
rational propositions. 

First — The green part of leaves exhale oxygen only in 
sunshine or bright daylight. 

Second. — To give out oxygen is all that is required to 
change water and carbonic acid into cellulose or plant food. 



HOW THE TISSUE OF PLANTS IS FORMED. 251 

Third. — 10 parts of water and 12 parts of carbon make 
up the composition of cellular tissue; of which the chemical 
formula is ( Vj H20 < ho- As water consists of H 2 O; 10 parts 
of it furnish the H20 O10, which added to C12, make up the 
cellulose (C12 H20 O10). 

Hence when the leaves absorb carbonic acid, or receive 
it in the sap from the roots, and the sun shines upon them, 
the carbonic acid is decomposed and the oxygen of it is ex- 
haled from the leaves while the carbon forms a union with 
the elements of the water and becomes plant tissue. In 
this combination the required mineral elements, and the 
nitrogen of which the gluten and albumen are formed, and 
which are derived from the sap, take their share; forming 
the contents of the cells and the supporting framework of 
the whole plant. 

Thus the leaves complete the work of building up the 
fabric of the plant from the materials furnished by the soil, 
or by the farmer when the soil is not fully provided with 
them. And they not only build up the plant, but they 
store up in it the starch of which the seed mainly consists; 
and the gluten and albumen of which the germ is formed; 
and thus provide for a future generation to succeed them 
after their work is done. They also, by a most mysterious 
change, in which the very same elements are simply trans- 
posed in some way, produce this starch from the cellulose; 
and by the addition of more water, convert starch into the 
sugar which makes the grape and the peach and the other 
fruits so delicious to our palate; thus affording not only the 
simple necessaries of animal life, but the delicacies and lux- 
uries which make up a large part of the enjoyment of our 
existence. 

But these functions of the leaf have a very close relation 
to circumstances which are under the control of the fanner. 
The vigor and luxuriance of plant growth are closely con- 
nected with the yield of the fruit, or the seed, which is the 
hope and aim of the cultivator of the soil. Hence how im- 
portant it is that he should encourage this leaf growth by 
the most perfect preparation of the soil that is possible; by per- 



252 THE CULTURE OF FARM (HOPS. 

pufn risation and fertilizing, that the root* may be fully 
developed and gather food from the soil in abundance; giving 
support to a stout vigorous stem and nourishment for an 
abundant foliage; by which all his efforts and labors are 

crowned with success, and profitable crops reward his in- 
dustry, in proportion to the intelligence and skill with 
which he aids the forces of nature to perfect their and his 
work. 



THE PARTS OF A FLOWER. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
THE FUNCTIONS OF THE FLOWER. 

The flowers, or the blossoms, are the reproductive parts 
of a plant and contain the fructifying organs. They are 
not specially constructed but are simply altered branches; 
and the several parts are altered leaves. That is to say, 
that certain buds, which might have grown into and pro- 
duced branches with leaves, under certain circumstances 
and for a special purpose become developed into blossoms. 
At an early stage of the growth of these buds it is impossi- 
ble to say whether they will develop into a branch or a 
flower. 

The parts of a flower are the stem; the calyx or leaves 
which enfold the petals; the petals; the stamens; and the 
pistils. In some flowers these change into each other, there 
is no distinctly fixed line between them, and sometimes the 
whole flower consists only of a cluster of leaves, as in the 
green roses which are grown as a curiosity in some gardens. 

The principal parts of the flower so far as they relate to 
our subject, are the reproductive portions, which are con- 
cerned in the growth and perfection of the seeds. These are 
the stamens and pistils. It is not the jxirpose to give a com- 
plete botanical description of these organs; this can be 
learned by reference to any hand book of botany; but an 
explanation of their nature and relations to each other, and 
to the development of the seed, will be of interest and value 
in removing some popular errors in respect to the reproduc- 
tion of species and in aiding the farmer in many ways to 
make the culture of his crops successful and profitable. 

The reproductive organs of plants have a very close anal- 
ogy to those of animals. They are male and female, and 
the relation of these to each other, and of the latter to the 
production of fruit or the reproductive germ, bear a close 
resemblance to those among animals. 



254 THE CULTUKE OF FARM (HOPS. 

The Stamens arc the male organs, and in the normally 
constructed flower surround the pistil which is the female 
organ and is connected with an ovary in which the fecun- 
dated germ develops into a perfect fruit, orasitis commonly 
called, a seed. 

A flower of the normal kind has both stamens and pistils 
and is called perfect. Such a flower is the blossom of the 
apple or cherry, and of wheat and rye. When a flower has 
only stamens and no pistils, or only pistils and no stamens, 
it is called imperfect; the former is called a staminate or 
sterile flower; and the latter a pistillate or fertile flower. The 
corn plant gives an instance of these kinds of flowers; the 
tassel being the staminate or male flower; the silk being the 
pistils which proceed from the pistillate or female flowers 
which are carried on the cob w T hich is the stem. Sometimes 
these imperfect flowers are borne upon different plants, and 
not the same individual, as in the case of some varieties of 
strawberry; the hemp; hop; in which one plant has only 
staminate flowers, and other plants only pistillate flowers. 
Such plants are called dioecious (meaning in two households 
or families). These j)lants, such as corn, castor oil, and 
the chestnut tree which bear both kinds of flowers upon the 
same stem, are called monoecious, meaning in one house- 
hold or family. 

This distinction is important to farmers for it is necessary 
in growing such plants to distribute a certain number of 
male or staminate plants, among the pistillate or female 
plants, for the purpose of impregnation and fertilization; 
just as he would mix a certain number of rams among a 
flock of ewes for the same purpose. 

The stamen consists of two parts, the filament and the 
anther. 

The Filament is the stalk or support of the anther; 
the anther is the essential part of the stamen. It is a sort 
of case which is filled with a fine powder or dust called 
pollen. This pollen is the fertilizing agent of the flower. 
It is usually of a yellow color and is so abundantly produced 
that it impregnates the air over a wide space, and is carried 



FRUCTIFICATION OF PLANTS. 255 

on the winds to considerable distances. It is sometimes 
seen covering the shores of lakes after heavy showers which 
wash it down from the air, and has been thought to be sul- 
phur produced by the lightning, by persons not acquainted 
with its character and origin. A field of evergreen sweet 
corn grown by the author, half a mile from any other corn 
field, and with a large piece of woods intervening, was so 
much fertilized by the pollen from this distant field as to 
have been spoiled for seed. 

The pollen of various plants differ so much in appearance 
when examined under a microscope as to be easily recog- 
nized as belonging to its special plant. The minute grains 
of it are thus exceedingly interesting objects for microscop- 
ical study. These grains of pollen vary in shape; some are 
round; some oval; some angular and many sided; some 
triangular; others double; treble; and in other ways are 
exceedingly diversified. They are made up of two coats, 
the inner one being filled with a fluid of a thickish con- 
sistence, in which are mixed a great number of minute grains. 

The Pistil is made up of an ovary, a style, and a stigma. 
The ovary and the stigma are the most essential parts; the 
style being the stalk which holds up the stigma, and the 
connecting channel between the two. The ovary is the re- 
ceptacle for the ovules or embryo seeds, which adhere to the 
inner sides of the cell or cells, as may be seen in the pea; 
the ovary or pod of which contains the seeds arranged along 
its length and attached to the side of it. The ovules, con- 
sist of a mass of pulpy tissue called the nucleus and are 
covered by one or two coats. 

The embryo is formed in the nucleus, and the coats be- 
come the coverings or skin of the seed. There is an open- 
ing through the coats of the ovary near where the apex of 
the ovules is situated, and an orifice in the ovule which 
corresponds with it. 

Fructification, or the process of impregnating or vi- 
talizing the seed, is the final function of the flower; and is 
effected as follows. When the flower is ripe for the per- 
formance of this function, the anther bursts and the pollen 



256 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

grains escape. They either fall upon the adjacent stigma; 
or are carried to it by insects, to whom the pollen grains 
adhere by their points or their viscidity, and who are in 
pursuit of honey. Or they arc blown by the winds and fall 
upon the stigma, and adhere to it by means of a viscid fluid 
which exudes from it. 

The grain of pollen which falls upon the stigma imme- 
diately begins a process of growth. It sends out a prolonga- 
tion of its inner coat, which is extremely thin and delicate, 
into the soft substance of the stigma, and through the inte- 
rior of the style into the ovary; just as the slender rootlet 
from a seed sinks into the soil. It then penetrates the ori- 
fice of the ovule, and reaches the embryo, when it discharges 
a portion of the soft pulpy mass which becomes the germ of 
the embryo. 

The Germ consists of a vesicle or cell, which has a very 
delicate membranous coat or envelope in which there are a 
small quantity of mucilaginous fluid, some minute grains, 
and a soft pulpy mass called the nucleus. 

Thus Ave have now traced the w T hole process of plant 
growth, and the structural development from its original 
cell to the final accomplishment of its purpose, which is seen 
to be the reproduction of this original cell, enormously in- 
creased in number; some plants producing many millions of 
seeds and such cells. And we have returned to this rudi- 
mentary cell, with its albuminous germ imbedded in the 
starch, which is* formed in the substance of the seed, as will 
be explained in the following chapter. 

It may be asked, however, at this point, how and by what 
general natural provision the perpetuation of species is ef- 
fected; and how a destructive mixture of kinds is avoided 
when this diffusion of pollen is so general in the atmos- 
phere. Just here we are met with the common natural law 
w T hich provides that different species cannot mingle, and 
that the foreign pollen shall be inert and unproductive. 
Thus the pollen from a pear tree may fall upon the flowers 
of an apple tree to any extent, but there is no reciprocal re- 
lation or action between them; the foreign pollen grains 



THE BEAUTY OF VEGETABLE GROWTH. 257 

meeting with no affinity, dry up and perish. This law gives 
us an example of the wondrously perfect adaptation of means 
to ends in nature. It may be a growth of long continued 
selection and natural variation of plants by which one spe- 
cies has become differentiated from another so much, that no 
reproductive relations can exist or take place between them. 
It may be an example and proof of design in creation, and 
the result of the most perfect wisdom and creative power. 
In either case the power and wisdom which promulgated 
and which enforces the law of selection and gradual evolu- 
tion of peculiarities, and the fixity of type from a single germ; 
and that which might create and maintain each distinct 
Variation, are equal in every respect; for it is impossible to 
have considered the amazing fitness and beauty and perfect 
adaptation which mark the various process by which a plant 
is produced from its elements, and made to minister to the 
welfare and happiness of mankind, without being impressed 
with the belief that these things did not happen by acci- 
dent, and are not self created ; but are the result of a wise 
and beneficent power whose existence and action we can- 
not comprehend; and which is equally worthy of our ven- 
eration and regard, whether it emanates from some supreme 
creator, or is the result of some force that has been set in 
action by some grand controlling influence w T hich pervades 
the universe. The power and wisdom behind these natural 
laws is the same from whatever source they may spring. 



THE CULTURE OF FAEM CHOPS. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE FRUIT; ITS FORMATION AND ITS 
CHARACTERISTICS. 

During the formation of the fruit, which begins to be ef- 
fected when the bud first opens into a flower, several im- 
portant chemical changes occur in the plant. As the for- 
mation of a seed is the grand climax of the process of plant 
growth, and is a return to the point from which the plant 
first started; so we find the chemical action which controls 
the various changes in the plant, to return to its point of 
departure and complete a circle of results. 

The germination of a seed is accompanied by the change 
of starch into gum and sugar, and the growth of the plant 
is due to the change of these into woody fiber; the blossom- 
ing of the plant being a period when these changes are the 
most active. The sap of the maple tree, becomes less sweet 
when the flowers begin to appear and the sugar in the beet 
root and the sugar cane is less abundant when these plants 
begin to blossom. 

Thus the maturity of a plant is marked by a reversed 
chemical action; and whereas in its earliest stages starch 
was converted into sugar, at its mature period sugar is con- 
verted into starch which is concentrated in the fruit, and 
stored up for the nutriment of the germ when it is in its 
turn awakened into life and action in the soil. 

The husk or envelope of the future seed, of wheat or corn 
for instance, is at first filled with a milky liquid which 
gradually becomes more sweet and dense, and finally con- 
solidates into a mass of starch and gluten. This process of 
ripening the seed is exactly the reverse of that of the ger- 
mination of it; and it is a curious fact that while we can 
perform the same operation of changing woody fiber and 
starch into sugar and sugar into acid, we cannot con- 
vert acid into sugar nor sugar back to starch or woody fiber. 
This is a process of nature which we cannot imitate, and 



OF WHAT A SEED CONSISTS. 259 

consequently cannot explain, as we can the converse change 
of woody fiber into starch and starch into sugar. 

The term seed is agricultural, botanically the seed is the 
fruit; and what is commonly called a fruit is the recepta- 
cle of the seed. Thus a melon or an apple is the receptacle 
in which the seeds and fruit are contained; a strawberry is 
a fleshy receptacle upon which the fruit or seeds are im- 
planted. Here however the popular meaning is given to 
these terms and fruits and seeds are understood in the com- 
mon use of the words. 

The seeds of a plant, as we have seen, consist of a mass of 
starch cells enclosed in a husk, and in which is imbedded 
the germ with its nitrogenous gluten surrounding it. These 
starch cells are enclosed in several envelopes; a grain of 
wheat having three distinct coats differing in character; the 
inner ones containing potash, gluten, and phosjmoric acid, 
in larger proportion than any other part of the seed. Some 
of the grains have husks which contain a large quantity of 
silica; oats for instance having 46 per cent, of silica in the 
ash; and the ash of millet containing 52 i per cent, of this 
mineral. 

During the process of ripening of the seed this excessive 
deposit of silica is most remarkable in the stem. As an 
important function of the stem is the support of the seeds, 
this deposit of silica in it is necessary to strengthen it and 
enable it to sustain the comparatively heavy weight of the 
seeds. But this large deposit of earthy matter is an im- 
portant consideration to the farmer whose business it is to 
produce as much nutriment in his fodder crops for the sub- 
sistence of his animals as he can, and as silica is of no use 
in the alimentation of animals, its presence in the fodder is 
not desirable. 

Young grass contains only as much silica as makes up 
10.3 per cent, of its ash; while the ash of the ripened hay 
has 63 per cent, of it; the potash in it amounts to only 7 
per cent, against 56 per cent, in the ash of the young grass. 
This change in the composition of vegetable tissue affects 
all plants; for as the starch and gluten are stored up in the 



260 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

seeds, and the stem is strengthened by the deposit of min- 
eral matter in it, it follows that the woody fiber and the 
ash of the stems are increased, not only directly, but rela- 
tively by the decrease of starch sugar and albumen. 

The ripening of fruit which is a process closely related to 
the ripening of the seeds, is accompanied by an equally 
considerable and interesting change. This change is more 
intelligible than that which occurs in the ripening of seeds, 
because it is one that can be jiroduced by the chemist, and 
its process and results represented by figures. 

The common fruits, the apple, pear, plum, grape, etc., in 
their immature stage, are tasteless and consist almost wholly 
of woody fiber, filled with flavorless sap and tinged with 
the green coloring matter of the leaf — chlorophyll. The 
young fruit at this time performs some of the functions of 
the leaf; absorbing carbonic acid and giving off oxygen; 
and thus gathering carbon from the atmosj)here and build- 
ing up cellular tissue of this carbon and the water which it 
receives from the roots. After a time the fruit becomes 
sour by the formation of acid in it, and the acid gradually 
increases. While this acid is increasing, less oxygen is giv- 
en off than before. The process by which the fruit acids 
and fruit sugar are produced may be explained as follows. 
Tartaric acid (the acid of grapes) is represented by the for- 
mula C4 H4 O5 ; or 4 equivalents of carbon; 4 of hydrogen 
and 5 of oxygen. This acid may be formed in the fruit in 
two ways : either from the carbonic acid absorbed by the 
grape, and water, with the exhalation of oxygen; or from 
the gum and sugar always in the sap by the absorption of 
oxygen from the atmosphere. Thus 

4 parts of Carbonic acid = C4 Os 
2 parts of Water = H4 O2 



The sum is = C4 H4 O10 
Tartaric acid = C4 H4 O5 

leaving 0» 



HOW STARCH IS STORED IN PLANTS. 261 

To produce this acid tlien, the vines may absoro carbonic 
acid from the atmosphere, combine it with the water of the 
sap and throw off into the sunshine the residue of oxy- 
gen. And as we know that all these processes do go on in 
plants, it is reasonable to assume that this result is due to 
them. 

By another change which is quite as simple, but not nec- 
essary to explain, grape sugar or the sugar of fruits may be 
changed into tartaric acid by the absorption of oxygen and 
the escape of water. The malic acid of the apple, and the 
pear, and other fruits, may be formed in precisely the same 
ways; and it differs from the former acid only in having 
one equivalent less of oxygen in its composition. 

When the seed is ripe the functions of the animal plants 
of which the common farm crops consist, are discharged. 
The absorption and decomposition of carbonic acid by the 
leaves, and the supply of nutriment to these are no longer 
required, for their growth is completed. The leaves there- 
fore begin to absorb oxygen, and decompose; lose their 
green color and turn yellow ; and prepare to return to their 
original elementary substances of which they were at first 
compounded. 

Perennial plants however have a further function to per- 
form. A supply of food has been deposited in the seeds for 
the sustenance of the germs which may spring from them, 
and in the buds which have been formed to begin the growth 
of another year. When the leaves have ripened and wither 
and fall, the sap which has circulated through them is con- 
verted into woody fiber and starch. In some plants this 
starch is stored up in the stems, as in the potato; the tubers 
of which are but thickened stems and the eyes merely buds; 
the starch being intended for the nutrition of the buds when 
they shall start into growth to renew the plants. The woody 
fiber of trees is deposited between the bark and the wood of 
the stem, to form the annual layer by which the tree in- 
creases in bulk. This layer cf new wood however is depos- 
ited only under the bark and around the stem and conse- 
quently the stem increases only in thickness, and never in 



262 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

length; the only way in which the growth of a perennial 
plant is elongated being at the extremities of the branches 
and from the terminal buds. Then the work of the year 
"being finished, vegetation rests and slumbers until the re- 
newed warmth of the sun in the returning spring awakens 
it, and life once more starts into full and vigorous action. 

The seed, we have seen, bears a specific character. It is 
the product of a plant having marked and special charac- 
teristics and habits. Plants of the same species always pro- 
duce like seeds, and their seeds produce always — within 
slight variations — the same kinds of plants in every respect. 
A wheat plant always produces wheat; the seed may vary 
to some slight extent, but it is wheat, and never barley, oats, 
or corn. And a grain of wheat always produces a wheat 
plant, and never oats or any other plant. Thus the common 
belief that under some unfavorable circumstances a Avheat 
seed may produce a plant of chess, or a wheat plant may 
change to a chess plant, which is an entirely distinct and 
different species, is as impossible as that a cow 7 under un- 
favorable circumstances might change into or produce a 
sheep or a rabbit. It is fortunate that the increase and 
spread of accurate knowledge and of intelligence among 
farmers is such, that these and other delusions are fast dis- 
appearing ; for they mislead and confuse farmers in their 
work, and induce them to suppose that freaks of nature are 
responsible for the results of their own mismanagement, and 
that the poor yields of crops may be caused by circumstances 
beyond their control. To some extent this may be true; 
but it is equally true that the well managed crops grown by 
intelligent and careful farmers never, or rarely, suffer in the 
ways which those of the careless unskillful and ignorant 
farmer do; and that the rigors of the season are destructive 
mostly to the crops ill put in; in poor soil; and in defiance 
of all the best methods of culture. The cultivation of farm 
crops is successful only when it is carried on under rules 
and practices based upon the laws and facts hereinbefore 
described and explained ; and when it is thus carried on its 
results are as certain as those of natural laws in other re- 



THE LAWS OF PLANT GROWTH UNCHANGEABLE. 263 

spects; as those of gravitation; and of heat and of other 
chemical action; and of those physical laws which regulate 
all matter. The processes of vegetable growth can all be 
explained as subject to these natural laws, which are un- 
changeable; omnipotent; and eternal; as the great source 
from which they received their first impulse. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE IMPROVEMENT OF PLANTS BY BREEDING 

OR CROSSING. 

The increase of varieties by natural or artificial means, 
is one of the most important methods by which improve- 
ment in the culture of farm crops has been effected. As 
regards farm animals this course of improvement has been 
most effective in increasing the value of live stock and in 
adding vast wealth to the world. The original stock of cat- 
tle, horses, sheep, and swine, were very different both in 
variety and character from the present improved kinds, 
which far surpass in usefulness and value the ancient types. 
This improvement is largely due to the system of crossing 
by which the better qualities of two races are united and 
combined; while the inferior characteristics of each are 
neutralized or bred out. Thus large bony animals being 
crossed with more compact, fine boned, fleshy ones, have 
produced equally large progeny with equally fine bone and 
heavy flesh; and it has been in this way that the magnifi- 
cent short horn breed of cattle; the splendid horses; the most 
useful sheep and swine, have been gradually developed 
from inferior stock. 

As there is a close analogy between the nature of animal 
life and that of vegetable life in other respects, this similar- 
ity also exists in this respect; and a similar course of im- 
provement which has been carried on during many years 
of intelligent and careful study and labor, and which has in 
some cases been aided by unlooked for accidents, has re- 
sulted in the most important and valuable results. All our 
farm crops, vegetables and fruits, have been greatly im- 
proved in this way, and the course of improvement is now 
broader and more rapid and effective than it has ever been 
before, thanks to the wide spread of knowledge among cul- 
tivators of the soil, and the large development of enterprise 
and genius which has been due to this increase of intelligence. 



IMPROVEMENT IN VARIETIES. 265 

The breeding of plants is as nearly alike to the same pro- 
cess among animals, as the physical characters of plants and 
animals approach in similarity. 

It has been shown how nearly alike in principle the re- 
productive processes are; and it is quite evident that these 
are as amenable to control and direction in one case as in the 
other. A study of these principles and their relation to the 
growth of plants will enable any farmer or gardener to turn 
them to his own advantage in the improvement of the va- 
rieties of the plants which he cultivates. During a few years 
past a large number of farmers have been working in this 
direction, and hundreds of new kinds of potatoes; tomatoes; 
corn; wheat; oats; barley; roots; and several other valua- 
ble agricultural plants have been introduced. The early 
rose potato is one instance of this improvement, and the ac- 
tual money value of the benefit thus accrueing to the far- 
mers from this one variety is certainly more than one hun- 
dred million dollars. Several varieties of wheat, the Claw- 
son; the Fultz; the Schumacker; and others have been 
equally valuable ; and the same is true of other crop plants. 

It has been explained that the fertilizing influence exists 
in the pollen of the plants which is contained in the anthers 
upon the summit of the stamens. That this pollen is scat- 
tered by various methods, some direct and some indirect, so 
as to reach the receptive stigmas upon the pistils. As a 
rule, the stamens are so placed, that their pollen cannot 
easily reach the pistils of the same plant; hence a sort of 
natural crossing between unrelated organs is secured. But 
nature never does all for mankind. Man was given dominion 
over nature; and to secure the most benefit from her work he 
must control and direct it. Nature secures some method of 
reproduction and avoids extinction, but it is with enormous 
waste of effort and resources. By cultivating the soil and 
planting and saving seeds, man avoids these wastes; and by 
controlling the fecundation of the plants, he can avoid nat- 
ural or accidental deterioration and secure improvement. 
The accidental processes of nature in this direction by means 
of winds and of insects, are insufficient for our purpose; and 



266 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

so farmers in their methods of planting, endeavor to direct 
the fertilization of their crops as far as they can in a gen- 
eral manner. 

No improvement however that is at all satisfactory, can 
be reached in this way; and so the operation of crossing, by 
using the pollen of one variety of plant to fertilize the pis- 
tils of another kind, is practiced. 

This is done in the following manner. 

Some plants, as has been described, have their stamens 
and pistils borne by different individuals. Strawberries and 
hops, are examples of this kind. With these it is a very 
easy matter to effect a cross fertilization. All that is re- 
quired is to protect the pistillate plants from the reach of 
any pollen but that which is used in the operation; and by 
taking flowers of the staminate kind, at the time when the 
pollen is ripe and is being shed, and when the pistils are in 
a receptive condition, and scattering the pollen over these. 
This is all that is required to produce a new variety which 
may differ from each of the parents in a marked degree, and 
yet possess the better characteristics of each. 

We say may differ; because while the probability is that 
there will be a difference, yet the tendency of reversion to 
inferior types is so strong in nature that of ten thousand 
seedlings not one may be any improvement upon the par- 
ents, and yet every one may differ in some respect. At 
the same time there may be some valuable distinct and new 
kind which may be worth all the trouble that has been ex- 
pended upon the remainder. This has been the case in every 
instance, and yet the few valuable results which have been 
gained, have enormously overpaid for the aggregate effort. 

When perfect flowers are subjected to the operation of 
crossing, a more difficult process is required. The anthers 
from the selected flower are cut off as soon as they appear 
by means of a slender pair of scissors; and the end of the 
branch with the flower, is covered with a bag of fine gauze 
of linen or silk, to protect it from pollen other than that 
which is desired. The flowers chosen for their pollen are 
gathered when in the right condition and brought to the 



IMPROVEMENT OF CORN. 267 

selected one; the pollen is carefully taken from the anthers 
upon a soft camels hair brush, and is placed upon the re- 
ceptive stigmas; the flower being then covered as before. 
If the pollen is received the pistils soon begin to wither and 
the ovaries swell; showing that the ovules have been fecun- 
dated. 

There are other cases in which a still more careful opera- 
tion is required. Some plants are self fertilizing, and can- 
not be crossed with the pollen of other plants even natur- 
ally. Wheat is such a plant; hence it is impossible for 
varieties to change excepting by what is known as "sport- 
ing." To cross wheats then, it is necessary to proceed as 
follows. Before the flowers open and the anthers appear, 
the glumes or coverings of the buds, which answer to the 
calyx of other flowers, are carefully opened or removed; and 
the organs of the flowers are exposed. The anthers are 
then cut off as above mentioned, and the pistils are fertilized 
with the chosen pollen communicated as before described. 
The ear of the plant is then enveloped in a protecting cov- 
ering of fine gauze, and the operation is complete. Most 
important results have been reached in this way and the 
field for experiment is boundless. 

In crossing corn all that is necessary is to grow some 
plants in a plot by themselves; to remove the tassels as soon 
as they appear; and to protect the silk by gauze coverings. 
When the silk is in the right condition, the mature tassels 
from the desired plants are shaken over the silks to scatter 
the pollen upon them, by which the fertilization is effected. 
This operation should be repeated daily until it is seen that 
the silk has received and absorbed the pollen, which is 
shown by its withering and drying up. 

In regard to the fertilizing of corn by the natural pro- 
cess a very important point might here be mentioned. This 
is the crossing by an imperfect plant. A perfect plant of 
corn is one that has both kinds of flowers; that is, a tassel, 
and an ear and silk. Such a plant is productive. But in 
a field of corn there are a large number of stalks which do 
not produce an ear, and have the tassel or staminate flow- 



2G8 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

ers only. These are unproductive; and as their presence is 
of no benefit in supplying pollen to other plants, and as 

their influence upon other plants is injurious as it tends to 
the reproduction of their own kind, and is detrimental to 
the seed produced, it is advisable to emasculate them, as a 
stock breeder would do with his inferior male animals, by 
cutting off the tassels as soon as they appear and before 
they can shed any of their pollen. 

In practicing this method of improving seed one more 
point should be noticed. This is to procure the very best 
development of the parent plants by selecting the best sam- 
ples of seed, and by giving them the highest possible culti- 
vation. This is analogous to the high feeding of those 
breeding animals which are selected for their excellent nat- 
ural qualities for the improvement of their races. Plants 
are affected in this way precisely as animals are. "Like 
produces like" among plants and animals alike; and in the 
improvement among vegetable species the principles which 
govern the breeding of animals should prevail. 

Pedigree is the development of peculiarities by the con- 
tinuous selection of parents. Plants are subject to this 
development to the fullest extent, and a most remarkable 
improvement has been effected in many of the plants grown 
for farm crops by the continuous selection of the best seeds 
fromthe best plants. This principle is not new by any means. 
It was expressed many centuries ago by Virgil who in effect 
says : "Unless the largest and best seed is carefully culled out 
by hand the plants will degenerate." This is the invariable 
experience of farmers at the present time who realize to the 
fullest extent that "as they sow, so do they also reap." 

There have been some remarkable instances of the bene- 
ficial results of this breeding of seeds. Wheat has been in- 
creased in size of ear from 3 to 9 inches in length; and in 
yield from 30 grains per ear to more than 100. The weight 
of the grain has been increased up to 66 lbs. per bushel, 
and the yield per acre from 30 to 70 bushels. Corn has 
been gradually brought to bear more ears upon the stalk, 
from two to seven; and to enlarge the product up to 125 



SELECTION OF THE BEST SEED. 269 

bushels of grain to the acre. Oats have also been equally 
improved up to a weight of 50 lbs. to the bushel, the growth 
of mangels has been brought up to a weight of 60 or 70 lbs. 
to the root, and a yield of 120 tons per acre. The improve- 
ment of farm and garden vegetables has been equally con- 
spicuous, while the success of the florists has been most re- 
markable in the improvement of flowering plants 

This selection of seed is one of the secrets of the success- 
ful growth of crops by the best farmers who know how to 
avail themselves of it and to profit by it. But it is to be 
done with judgment. The effects of climate are to be con- 
sidered. Some crops succeed best in a cool climate; others 
in a warmer one. Oats reach a weight of bo lbs. the meas- 
ured bushel in Scotland and Ireland where a long cool sea- 
son of growth favors the development of the plant. Potatoes 
yield 600 bushels per acre under ordinary cultivation in 
the mountain region of North Carolina and Tennessee; while 
in INova Scotia the yield is but little less. Wheat reaches 
a weight of 66 lbs. to the bushel in Dakota, and contains a 
much larger quantity of gluten than the average. Hence 
seed that is brought from these localities reproduce their 
peculiarities elsewhere, and continue to do so for some time; 
the continuance being proportionate to the care given to the 
cultivation of the crop — until the influence of climate pre- 
vails or by persistence a new and better type is fixed. 

All these considerations are of great importance. They 
show how man by intelligent direction can change natural 
forces to a large extent for his own advantage. And it is 
an encouraging fact, to impel effort in this direction, that it 
is the destiny of mankind to possess the earth ; to have do- 
minion over the soil of it and all its products; and to re- 
plenish it and develop all its possibilities by the best culti- 
vation of its products as far as his physical power and his 
intelligence permit him. 

The term "sporting" has been used in reference to the 
self variation of wdieat, upon a previous page. This term 
is used to express a natural variation from the original type 
without any apparent cause; a sportive fancy of the plant 



270 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

as it may be said, or an accidental departure from the reg- 
ular course. 

This accidental occurrence is taken advantage of to re- 
produce the variation by such a process as will fix the new 
type and preserve its peculiarities. A great many such 
cases have occurred. Most of our valuable fruits have thus 
originated; many varieties of grains have been produced in 
this way and have been fortunately preserved by the ob- 
servant farmers who have noticed the departure from the 
regular course of growth. The well known late rose potato 
was thus originated from a cutting of early rose; which re- 
mained green long after the other plants of the crop had 
ripened. A notable case recently occurred with a new and 
strange rose, which appeared upon a branch of an old kind, 
and which was so admirable in form and color as to strike 
the notice of the florist in whose green houses it appeared. 
The branch was divided into cuttings and propagated with 
the result of a profit of several thousand dollars in two or 
three years. 

So many fortunate prizes have been discovered in this 
manner that the farmer who is constantly observing what 
is going on around him, can scarcely fail to find something, 
in some way, that will be of interest or value to him. And 
he who is the most thoroughly versed in all the fundament- 
al knowledge of his business, and understands the princi- 
ples upon which his work is based the best, will be most 
likely to secure his share of these prizes which the grand 
lottery of nature offers to those who take a share in it. 



CAUSE OF THE LOSS OF FERTILITY, 



PART SIXTH. 

CHAPTER XLI. 

THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

The previous chapters have been devoted to the explana- 
tion of the principles upon which the culture of farm crops 
depends. This knowledge is indispensable to successful 
practice in farming, and throws a flood of light upon the 
otherwise mysterious operations of nature, as we meet with 
them in farm work. The reader who has followed us through 
the previous chapters will now be prepared for the discus- 
sion of the practical questions which arise in the daily labors 
in the field; and we now take up the subject of the culture 
of farm crops in its practical bearings, applying to it the 
principles which have been heretofore explained. 

When a farmer has worked his land for a number of 
years, he finds the richest soils to gradually decline in pro- 
ductiveness; to become worn out and exhausted in fact; and 
he will not be surprised by this, after having read and stud- 
ied what has been said in regard to the nature of the soil 
and of plant growth, and the relations of these to each other. 

Continuous cropping removes from the soil — as has been 
shown — a very large quantity of its soluble fertile constit- 
uents; and in time, takes from it the available plant food 
which has accumulated during a very long period; we know 
not how many centuries or ages, of gradual storing up of 
this available fertility; and brings it back again to its origi- 
nal condition when the mineral elements of the soil and the 
atmosphere, were the only sources from which plants could 
derive materials of which to form their substance. The 
continuous growth of such crops as wheat and corn, year 
after year, very soon carries off the available plant food and 
brings the land to this impoverished condition. But under 



272 TIIE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the best culture, and with the most economical practice in 
regard to feeding stock and using the manure, the natural 
resources of the land are so well husbanded that the soil 
may be kept in a condition of fertility, quite equal to that 
when the farmer first took possession of it. It is the busi- 
ness of the conservative and skillful farmer to thus preserve 
these resources from waste, by the practice of the most thor- 
ough tillage; by the use of manures made upon the farm; 
and such artificial fertilizers as can be procured in the 
markets. 

A few years ago, when the rich virgin soils of the west 
were first opened to settlement and yielded enormous crops, 
the early farmers who had been used to the comparatively 
sterile soils of New England, which had been wholly ex- 
hausted of all their available fertility by a wasteful system 
of agriculture, perceiving the surprising richness of the new- 
ly broken land, thought there would be no end to its pro- 
ductiveness; and ridiculed the cautions and suggestions of 
experienced persons who foresaw that the universal laws of 
nature could not be violated without producing the inevita- 
ble results, and that the burning of straw; the repeated 
crops of wheat and corn; the removal of all the produce 
from the land; and the wast? of such manure as was made 
by the feeding of the working cattle and the cows which 
were the only animals kept on the farms; must certainly 
end in the wearing out and exhaustion of the soil. These 
farmers now experience the very same results which hap- 
pened in their former homes, and which must occur every- 
where. They have learned that there is a limit to the pro- 
ductiveness of the richest soils; and that the end is reached 
in time as certainly as the seasons roll around, and the year& 
come to an end. 

But even now, the very same unwise course of continuous 
cropping of the land, and the repeated growth of grain 
crops is practiced in spite of past experience; and we may 
well repeat the warning, that but a few years will elapse — 
and all the fewer as the culture is more perfect — before par- 
tial sterility will take the place of virgin fertility, and the 



WHAT AVAILABLE FERTILITY IS. 273 

soil be reduced to its primitive condition when it was with- 
out any accumulated stores of available plant food. This 
term "available," perhaps needs a word of explanation, lest 
it may be misunderstood. 

If a man possesses a sum of money in coin or current 
funds, it is available for the purpose of trade. He can pur- 
chase food; clothing; houses; lands; and any other property 
with it, without any difficulty. If he should invest his 
funds in such property that is readily salable, his means are 
still available; and he can turn his possessions into money 
again, with ease. But if he spends his money foolishly; . 
buying property which is not desirable; as for instance tracts 
of land far beyond the boundaries of settlement; his means 
are used up and are not available; he can neither sell the ; 
property, nor borrow upon it; and if he needs money for his 
present uses, he will find himself as j)oor as the ragged va- 
grant who begs food from door to door. 

Just so in regard to the fertility of the land. The 
farmer grows crops and takes from the soil a certain 
quantity of plant food; this plant food was available; 
and the plants could take what they wanted of it. In time, 
by an exhaustive process of culture, all this ready formed 
soluble matter is used up; spent; and gone; and the soil is 
left, still containing thousands of pounds of the same kind 
of matter, but it cannot be reached by the plants, because 
it is not soluble, excepting to a very small extent. All this 
plant food; the nitrogen of the atmosphere and of inert or- 
ganic substance in the soil; and the various mineral matter 
of the soil; all these are in existence, but are not available 
and the plants starve upon the soil with all this unavaila- 
ble food in it. 

For the profitable culture of farm crops, therefore, the 
farmer must see to it that the fertility of the soil is kept in 
an available condition; that as it is drawn upon by the 
crops, it is replaced by the application of manure; and that 
fresh supplies are brought forth from the soil by thorough 
tillage with the most effective implements. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

IMPLEMENTS OF TILLAGE. 

No man can work without tools; and to do the best work, 
the best implements are required. In a work of this chai- 
acter, upon "The Culture of Farm Crops," some refeijence 
to the best implements for preparing the land, and for se- 
curing by their right use, all the benefits which accrue from 
the operations of the natural laws which have been ex- 
plained in previous chapters, should not be missed. 

Plowing is the first work in the culture of crops; for the 
land must thus be prepared for the seed. After plowing, 
follows harrowing; an equally important work; and in some 
respects of greater significance in regard to the culture of 
the soil. With these two implements, every kind of soil 
that is dry enough for tillage may be thoroughly w r ell fitted 
for the seed and for the growth of crops. 

A plow is constructed upon certain scientific principles, 
and much study has been given by the best mechanics and 
inventors to the perfection of these implements. Its purpose 
is to cut a slice of the soil, raise it, and turn it over; either 
partly so as to stand on edge in a sloping direction; or com- 
pletely so that the earth is reversed in position. The for- 
mer method is that mostly used in ordinary farm work, and 
for all the purposes of preparing land for seed is quite suffi- 
cient, and we think preferable to the other in every respect. 
To effect this purpose the plow is provided with a pointed 
and edged share to cut the slice of earth; and with a curved 
mold-board to lift and turn it. The share is thus necessar- 
ily made in the form of a wedge, and the mold-board in the 
form of a section of a cylinder, or of a cone. As the share 
cuts the furrow slice loose from the solid ground, it lifts it 
so that it passes on to the mold-board, which further 
lifts it, and at the same time by means of the curved surface, 
turns it over and deposits it on its edge; pressing it close 
and compactly against the previously turned soil. 



HOW TO REGULATE THE PLOW. 275 

It is quite easy to follow this action of the plow, in the 
mind; and as the farmer follows his plow in the field and 
watches the furrow slice turn and fall into its place, he can 
very readily perceive why the plow is formed in this man- 
ner and how it completes its purpose. But this is not all. 
It is the mere beginning of the knowledge of the plow ; for 
the farmer himself has to guide it; to hold it to its work, 
and to handle it so that its proper purpose is made effective. 
A vast amount of poor plowing is done, and although Amer- 
ican plows are the best and the most easily handled of any, 
yet as a rule, the average plowing is a wretched piece of 
work, and quite sufficient to explain why the American far- 
mer produces smaller crops than any other civilized farmer; 
and this, notwithstanding our excellent climate and fertile 
soils. 

To do good work, the plow should be attached to the 
traces so that the sole rests on a line which meets just be- 
hind the point of the share, with another line which is a 
continuation of the line of draft as shown by the direction 
of the traces. If this latter line touches the line of the sole 
of the plow too far behind the share, the plow will run too 
deeply; if the point of intersection of the two lines is ahead 
of the point of the share, the plow will run too shallow, or 
out of the ground; and the plowman will have to raise the 
handles to keep the plow down to its work. In either case 
the plow will not run right, and the labor of plowing will 
be increased. So that the first thing to be looked to in us- 
ing a plow is to fit the draft right. 

The draft being properly regulated, it will run evenly ex- 
cept so far as the inequalities of the soil and any obstacles 
it may meet with, as stones; hard clods; or previously ill- 
plowed parts of the land. It is very rare indeed that these 
interferences do not exist in any field; and where they do, 
special pains must be taken to remove or overcome them. 
The plow must be run at an even depth, the furrow T must 
be of even width ; and the furrow slices must lie over at the 
same inclination; before the land can be said to be well 
plowed. If the relation of the condition of the soil to the 



276 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

growth of plants, as previously explained, is remembered or 
recalled, it will be realized how very important it is that 
the plowing should be perfectly well performed so that the 
next operation of harrowing may be equally well done. 

The harrow, up to a recent period, has been a most im- 
perfect implement, chiefly because its purpose in the cul- 
ture of farm crops has not been understood. It has been 
supposed when a farmer has thought at all about it, 
that the harrow was used to smooth the surface and level 
the ridges left by the plow. In effect it has been mostly 
used to cover up and hide the bad work of the plow, and to 
put a superficial smoothness upon the soil, leaving the under 
portion in an exceedingly unfavorable condition for the 
growth of plants. But during some years past the attention 
of agricultural mechanics and inventors of improved machin- 
ery has been turned towards the improvement of this imple- 
ment; and after many disappointments and failures, some- 
thing like perfection, if not perfection, has been reached. 
The first great improvement was the sloping tooth, which 
smoothed the soil and pressed it down; without tearing up 
the debris of the previous crop or the manure which had 
been covered by the plow. The next improvement was the 
coulter harrow; which cut the furrow slices and broke them 
up. But the spike tooth harrow, and its more recent rela- 
tive the spring tooth harrow, differing nothing in principle, 
but both mere scratchers of the surface still furnished the 
majority of the implements which were in use. 

The Acme pulverizing harrow, one of the happiest in- 
ventions which mechanics has bestowed upon agriculture, 
was introduced about 8 years ago. It was the invention of 
a well known agricultural mechanic, Mr. Nishwitz; who 
gradually improved his first designs until at last the most 
perfect implement of its kind was produced. This harrow 
consists of a smoothing and leveling bar, which is provided 
with a set of (10) flat crushing teeth and ten curved coulters 
sloping backward, so that the ridges on the surface are lev- 
eled and smoothed and clods are crushed. In the rear of 
this leveling and smoothing bar, is another bar which is. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE ACME HARROW. 277 

provided with ten more cutting coulters, very much like the 
long narrow mold-board of a plow. These are curved in a 
direction contrary to the ten on the front bar and are sloped 
behind so that they crush and cut the furrow slices, already 
smoothed and leveled and pulverized on the surface, 
to a considerable depth; the depth being regulated at 
the will of the driver; who may if he desires, add his 
own weight to this effect by riding on the harrow on a 
spring seat provided for this purpose. These cutting coul- 
ters not only dissect the furrow slices, but turn over the 
pulverized soil, by means of the curve of their blades, which 
are in effect so many small plows. There are 20 of these 
cutting blades which altogether take up 6 feet of space; thus 
covering one thirty-fifth of a square acre per every 210 feet 
passed over. It thus performs its work very rapidly, as well 
as in the most thorough manner, by pulverizing the soil; 
crushing the clods; leveling the ridges; and fitting the 
ground perfectly for the reception of the seed. Indeed from 
the authors personal experience in the use of this harrow 
for several years past he has found it to be a most effective 
seed coverer, replacing the seed drill perfectly; leaving a 
covering of firm mellow soil of 2 inches over the seed; and 
compacting this pulverized earth over and about the seed in 
precisely the manner required for its perfect germination, 
and the vigorous growth of the young plants. This use is 
quite beyond its claimed purposes, but it shows that while 
this implement is called a harrow, and does all that any 
other harrow can do, or has ever done, it does much more; 
and in some cases does the work of a plow, and in all cases 
does the work of a clod crusher, and smoother, and a roller 
as well. In short, it answers perfectly all the purposes of the 
farmer in fitting the plowed soil for the germination of the 
seed, and conforms in every respect to the requirements 
which have been so emphatically pointed out in previous 
chapters, for the most effective consummation of the natural 
laws which control the relations of the soil to plant growth; 
the principal one of which is the thorough pulverization of 
the soil. 



THE (I'LTURE OF FARM CROP3. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 
THE ROTATION OF CROPS. 

It is not impossible to grow the same crop year after year, 
upon the same land successfully. Permanent meadows are 
instances of this kind of continuous culture. But it is nec- 
essary to fertilize the soil in such a way as to restore pre- 
cisely what the crops have withdrawn from it. This con- 
tinuous culture however is not practicable in ordinary 
farming, although it has been shown by Sir J. B. Lawes on 
his experimental farm at Rothamstead in England, that 
forty continuous crops of wheat, barley, or roots, can be 
grown in as many years, by the use of suitable manures or 
fertilizers and without any diminution in the yield. 

In ordinary farming it has been found that when the 
same crop is grown consecutively for a number of years 
upon the same land, the product gradually decreases until 
It no longer pays the farmer for his labor. But he finds 
that although one crop, such as wheat, begins to fail the 
second or third year, some other crop, as corn, potatoes, tur- 
nips, clover, or grass, will thrive; and that a succession of 
these may be growm in a number of years without any de- 
terioration. And not only is this found to be the case in 
regard to farm crops, but we find it to be the case in the 
natural growth of the land; for when a forest of hard woods 
is cut down, and the land is left to grow up with trees again, 
the new growth consists of evergreens; and on the other 
hand when a pine forest is cut down, oaks, poplars, and other 
deciduous trees take the place of it. The reason for this 
change of product is not difficult to perceive. When we' 
consider the nature of each growth we see that each kind 
differs remarkably. For instance, in the following table 
we give the analyses of leaves, wood, and bark, of the 
two kinds of trees which thus follow each other; and it is 
easy to see why one kind follows the other and not its 
own kind. 



rotation of crops a necessity. 270 

Composition of the Ash of 

Leaves of Walnut Potash, 42.7 per cent Silica, i. 2 per cent. 

Pine " 1.5 " " 70.1 " 

Wood of Elm " 24.1 " " 6.2 

Pine • G.8 " " 15.9 

Bark of Linden " 16.1 " " 2.3 " 

Balsam fir " 3.0 " " 31.1 

This striking difference prevails through the whole list of 
hard and soft woods. 

Evergreen trees require a large quantity of silica, and in 
gathering this from the soil, separate it from its combina- 
tions with potash, lime, and magnesia; leaving these in the 
soil in an available condition to accumulate in excess of the 
requirements of the then growing trees. When in course of 
time, the lumberer, or the farmer, or the accidental confla- 
gration, removes the pines from the land, a forest of hard 
woods soon takes their place; and vice versa; when the hard 
woods have taken up the potash and lime, and have left a 
large accumulation of silica, and they perish, or they are 
cut off in their prime, the evergreens succeed them. 

Precisely a similar occurrence takes place in the growth of 
farm crops. If the table given in a preceding chapter (Chap. 
XVI, page 100) is referred to, it will be seen how a crop of 
wheat, in the straw, takes much silica and little potash from 
the soil; while red clover takes more than three times as 
much potash; 82 times as much lime; and only a twentieth 
as much silica as the wheat. But more than this, that as a 
large quantity of the red clover consists of roots and stub- 
bles, and these are left in the soil, a considerable quantity 
of nitrogen, potash, and lime, are thus accumulated after a 
crop of clover has been removed ; and the stubble has been 
plowed under; and these furnish precisely the kind of food 
which will contribute to the needs of a crop of wheat. 
Moreover, clover is a deep rooted plant, and finds its food 
far below the reach of the shallow rooted wheat; so that the 
clover brings up to the surface a large quantity of plant 
food, and leaves it there, just where the wheat can find it. 
Hence it is that an abundant wheat crop follows clover; 
and a crop of clover plowed under is the very best prepara- 



280 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

tion for wheat. The same facts apply to peas and beans, 

and explain the advantages which follow the growth of 

wheat alter these crops. 

But another point is to be considered. We have dwelt 
often and particularly upon the necessity for thorough cul- 
ture of the soil; the effect of the atmosphere; of moisture; 
and of heat; and the oxidizing and nitrifying effects of por- 
ous soils upon organic substances contained in them. Hence 
it is a great advantage for the farmer to grow crops which 
require cultivation in alternation with other crops; both for 
the purpose of destroying the weeds and cleaning the land; 
and of gaining all the benefits from the repeated stirring of 
the soil during the summer. Hence it is that the practice 
of a rotation of crops became customary in the infancy of 
agriculture, and has always prevailed, although the farmers 
who followed it could not explain the reason for it, but 
simply followed it because experience had taught them its 
value. Q'&ic quoque arva requiescent, fetibus mutatis.'" — 
"Thus also the fields rest, the produce being changed." 
Virgil). 

But if a rotation of crops is advantageous and profitable, 
it follows that the best rotation; that which will confer the 
most of these beneficial results upon the land; will be the 
best for the farmer to follow. And we would suggest the 
consideration, whether or not, the present rotation common- 
ly followed, of four crops or "four courses," viz: wheat, 
grass, corn, and oats; might not be very much improved, 
and a corresponding advantage be secured by the farmer. 

The present ordinary rotation is based upon one green 
crop — a grass and clover sod — plowed under; one cultivated 
crop — corn; and one manured crop — wheat. But three 
exceedingly exhaustive crops are grown, one after the other, 
viz: corn, oats and wheat; and it is questionable if the gen- 
eral low average yield of wheat is not due in a great meas- 
ure to the exhaustion of the soil by the two previous exact- 
ing crops. Corn is a gross feeder, and oats pick up very 
eagerly what the corn leaves behind it. Thus the wheat 
meets with decidedly unfavorable circumstances, when from 



AN IMPROVE!) ROTATION. 281 

its character it should be favored as much as possible. 
The largest addition of plant food of the best kind to the 
soil, is made by a grass and clover sod plowed in; and the 
soil is most favorably affected by the frequent cultivation 
given to what are known as hoed crops. Now, if instead of 
5 years crops as at present in vogue in the common 4 course 
rotation, with the single green crop plowed in, the single 
cultivated crop, and the single manuring, there could be 8 
years crops with two green crops plowed in, two cultivated 
and two manured crops; it is unquestionable that the land 
would be greatly improved in condition; and the yield of 
the crops would be increased; and all with corresponding 
profit to the farmer. The two rotations would compare 
with each other as follows : 

Present rotation. New rotation. 

Wheat (manured). Wheat (manured). 

Grass and clover. Grass and clover. 

Pasture. Pasture 

Corn (with sod plowed in). Corn (with sod plowed in). 

Oats. Roots (manured). 

Oats or barley. 

Clover hay. 

Clover seed (sod plowed in). 

Moreover there would be a crop of roots to be fed to stock 
with the hay and straw, and some bran or oil meal pur- 
chased, with the result of a large quantity of manure which 
would greatly enrich the soil and very much add to the pro- 
ducts of the farm. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM (HOPS. 



CHAPTER XLI V. 

GRASS. 

Grass is the pivot upon which farm crops rotate. It is 
the most valuable and productive crop grown. It feeds all 
the stock; produces all our meat; feeds the horses, cows, 
and sheep; produces our milk and butter and cheese; the 
hides, and wool; and thus contributes more to the suste- 
nance and comfort of mankind than any other farm crop 
grown. It is a common saying that "grass farmers are the 
richest farmers;" and it is quite true, because grass is the 
easiest crop grown and yields the most profitable products. 
It is of the greatest importance then that grass should be 
cultivated in the best manner. 

Permanent meadows are the most profitable form in which 
grass can be grown, because once the grass is established it 
is maintained for many years with very little cost and trou- 
ble. In regard to the formation and maintenance of per- 
manent meadows three things are. most worthy of notice: 
the preparation of the land; the choice of varieties of grass; 
and the treatment necessary for their preservation. 

No other crop exacts such a careful preparation of the 
soil as grass. The most perfect plowing is required to get 
a smooth level surface; and thorough harrowing, or what is 
the best, a thorough working with the Acme pulverizing 
harrow is indispensable. The land should be plowed at 
least 6 inches deep. If the surface is stony, the stones should 
be rolled into the furrows and covered at the next turn; the 
Acme harrow will not disturb them, and they are out of the 
way of all future work. After the plowing, the furrows 
are leveled down and pulverized thoroughly, and the work- 
ing with this implement is continued until the soil is per- 
fectly fine and compact. 



GRASSES FOR PERMANENT MEADOWS. 



283 



A liberal quantity of manure should be plowed in and 
will be well mixed with the soil by this working, without 
being torn from its place in the furrows, where it is most 
wanted and not on the surface. The seed is then sown. 
Orchard grass is the best single permanent grass for mow- 
ing meadows, makes an excellent pasture, and is useful for 
soiling purposes. 2i or 3 bushels per acre is required to 
cover the surface well; but the habit of this grass is to grow 
in bunches and the thickest sowing will not make a sod. 
A long experience with this grass has convinced us that it 
is the best single grass that can be sown, as it will last for 
30 years at least in good condition for hay and pasture. It 
is early in maturity and comes into bloom with red clover, 
hence a mixture of clover with it is advisable when the 
object sought is hay and a few years pasture; but for per- 
manent meadow the grass alone is preferable when but one 
kind is sown. 

Mixed grasses produce a thicker herbage than any one 
kind, and a selection of several kinds of those suited to the 
soil is desirable. The following are some of the mixtures 
which have been found useful on the kinds of soils men- 
tioned. 

Mixture of Grasses. 
for light dry soil. 

Orchard grass 10 pounds. 

Tall oat grass 6 

Meadow fescue 3 

Creeping fescue 3 

Creeping bent 3 

Perennial rye grass 8 

Timothy 3 

Kentucky blue grass 4 

Total per acre, 40 

FOR HEAVY SOILS. 

Orchard grass 10 pounds. 

Timothy 6 

Yellow oat grass 5 

Perennial rye grass 10 

Tall fescue 4 

Rough stalked meadow grass. ... 5 
Meadow fescue 5 



Total per acre, 



45 



284 THE CULTURE <>F FARM CROPS. 

FOR MOIST rX>JL8. 

Timothy 6 pounds. 

Fowl meadow grass 5 

Red top 10 

Creeping bent 5 

Floating meadow grass 5 

Water meadow grass 5 

Total per acre, 36 

FOR SHADED PASTURE OR OPEN WOODS. 

Kentucky blue grass 5 pounds. 

Orchard grass 5 

Creeping bent 5 

Redtop 5 

Wood meadow grass 10 

Yellow oat grass 5 

Total per acre, 35 

In localities where Kentucky blue grass thrives natu- 
rally, upon limestone soils especially; this variety is unsur- 
passed, and indeed unequalled for pasture; and one who has 
seen the verdant meadows of this grass in Kentucky, Missouri, 
southern Ohio, and Indiana, and parts of Tennessee, will 
have no doubt of the possibility of making permanent pas- 
tures and meadows in our American climate, which has 
been supposed to be unfavorable for the culture of grass. 

For temporary meadows, there are no better varieties 
than the popular mixture of timothy and clover, which us- 
ually remains for two years, being mown once for hay, and 
used for pasture the next year. 6 lbs. each of seed is the 
usual quantity, but we have sown a peck, each, of the seed; 
which is 12 lbs. of timothy and 15 lbs. of clover, on rather 
poor land with better results than from thinner sowing. 

In sowing grass seeds we prefer to sow one-half each way, 
so as to get the most even covering of the soil. As the seeds 
are very small and light, deep covering is to be avoided; 
and usually the soft mellow soil left in small ridges and 
furrows by the Acme harrow, will furnish sufficient cover- 
ing by its natural settlement, or by the beating of the first 
shower; without any special work for the purpose. We 
much prefer to sow grass and clover seed by themselves and 
without any crop of grain, fitting the soil specially for the 
seed as above described, and sowing in August. A pound 
•of turnip seed sown with the grass seed will afford excellent 



SOWING GRASS SEEDS. 285 

protection for the young grass, the broad leaves of the tur- 
nips giving welcome shade and protection from early frosts, 
and from the too warm winter's sun; and the roots dying, 
through the winter, furnish very useful food for the young 
crop in the spring. But with fall plowing and early sow- 
ing in the spring, grass seeds may be sown with safety then, 
and will often give a crop of hay, or pasture for sheep in 
the fall 



THE (TLTl'RE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

FODDER AND SOILING CROPS. 

The cultivation of fodder crops is one of the indispensa- 
ble methods of the economical use of land and of the feed- 
ing of cattle. Cicero observed, in his ancient time, that 
"the feeding of cattle was the most important part of agri- 
culture." But in these days, when the exigencies of our 
social conditions call for every effort on the part of every 
producer to decrease his expenses and increase his income 
it is necessary to make the land yield the largest produce 
of the most nutritious food. It must be a very good acre 
of meadow, and one of pasture, that will together support 
one cow for a whole year; but by the culture of fodder crops 
of the right kind, and the use of the silo for preserving 
these crops green and succulent through the winter, one 
acre may be made to support two or three head of cattle 
the year round; thus practically more than trebling the 
value of the land, by the increased income from it. 

Soiling is by no means a modern practice, for it has 
been made use of for many centuries. The advantages of 
it are obvious. It consists in growing green fodder crops, 
and cutting these for feeding stock in yards or lots, or sheds. 
There is no waste of food in this way; none is trodden un- 
der foot or fouled and made useless; and every pound of 
manure, both liquid and solid, may be saved. In the South, 
this practice prevailed long before it was introduced into 
practice in the North, and cow penning has been used for 
enriching the land and economizing feed, where the climate, 
but much more the prevailing system of agriculture, forbids 
the pasturage of stock to any large extent. The author 
has practiced this system in his dairy for several years, with 
the results of bringing up a practically barren farm by de- 
grees, during a few years, into a high state of productive- 
ness. Objection is made by some persons that it is a costly 



THE PRACTICE OF SOILING. 287 

practice. It is true that it costs more than turning out the 
stock on to a pasture, but the extra cost is not much, while 
the income from the land is fully trebled. One boy of 16 
years, is able to cut and bring to the barn the feed for 30 
cows; and to feed them and keep them clean. This is all 
the extra cost, unless one counts the plowing of the land, 
and the carrying of the manure to it for the growth of the 
crops. But if this is taken into account, one might as well 
complain of the cost of milking the extra cows fed, and tak- 
ing care of the increased product of the milk and butter. 

The system is very simple. Feeding sheds and yards are 
provided for the cattle, with racks for the fodder. Every 
necessary arrangement is provided for saving all the man- 
ure. A field is first sown with clover and grass and another 
with fall rye; these make the beginning and provide the 
first feeding in the season, which begins in May, when the 
rye is ready for cutting. After the rye is used up, the 
clover is ready and the rye ground is plowed and sown with 
early sweet corn, which is ready as soon as the clover or 
orchard grass, or both, have been exhausted. A mower 
(one horse) is kept in the fields, and as soon as the dew is 
off the crops, a sufficient supply is cut — at the first — for two 
days; one days stock is drawn in for the cattle; and the 
other is left on the ground or in the barn for the next day. 
The next day, a new supply is cut for the following day, so 
that a days stock is always kept ahead. For rainy weather, 
provision is made for a longer supply; if it is thought desir- 
able. This goes on all the summer with perfect regularity; 
and when one crop comes in, what is left of the preceding 
one is cured for winter, or put in the silo. 

A silo is simply an air tight receptacle ; a square deep 
building of stone, concrete, or plank; which may be made 
in a cellar, or a mow in the barn; in which the newly cut 
green fodder is packed away and pressed down tightly un- 
der a covering of planks, heavily weighted. The green fod- 
der heats and ferments somewhat; but as the air is excluded 
it does not mold or decay; but remains discolored to some 
extent, and makes a very palatable fodder. One acre of 



288 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

fodder thus preserved has afforded full provision for one 
cow or ox for 40 months. 

Pasturing is a wasteful practice except upon very cheap 
lands and where labor is scarce. Where laud is worth $50 
an acre and upwards, it is a practice that is far from eco- 
nomical unless in a few special eases where partial pasturing 
at times is desirable. Instead of pasturing, green fodder 
crops are thus grown, and cut and fed to stock in yards or 
lots. 

For the purposes of winter feeding there are several other 
crops besides grass, which may be grown very profitably 
and will yield twice or three times as much as grass will; 
and besides by choosing the right crops which follow each 
other as soon as one is cut and used, another becomes ready ; 
so that a succession of food is provided for the stock; while 
in pasturing, the grass is only in the best condition for a 
short time. In this way the costly land in the neighbor- 
hood of large towns and cities may be worked with more 
profit than the cheaper farms which are remote from mar- 
kets. For dairying, this system of growing fodder crops is 
indispensable to success. 

Clover is the first fodder crop which demands consider- 
ation, both for its value for all purposes for which it is grown, 
and for its easy culture. The introduction of this plant in- 
to agriculture marked an era in the history of the art, for 
it certainly worked a revolution in its practice. Clover be- 
longs to the leguminous or pod bearing order of plants, of 
which the pea and bean are the typical examples. It has 
some special characteristics which should not go unnoticed 
here. It has a long fusiform or spindle shaped tap root 
which penetrates deep into the soil, extending sometimes 3 
or 4 feet before it passes into the form of fibers. These long 
roots extend the feeding space of the plant very considera- 
bly, and explain the interesting fact that a crop of clover 
is able to gather from the soil as much nitrogen as 5 crops 
of wheat; as much potash as 4 crops; and as much lime as 
8 crops ; and thus bring to the surface and leave in its roots 
and stubble, so much additional amount of plant food for 



• CLOVER HAY. 289 

the nourishment of succeeding crops. A crop of clover 
plowed in as a fertilizer adds to the available plant food in 
the soil as much as 20 loads of farm manure, and the large 
percentage of nitrogen in its composition makes it equally 
valuable for the feeding of animals and the production of ' 
manure. Its culture is too well known to need any detailed 
description, but it is perhaps proper to remark here, that 
the thorough fitting of the soil for the seed is of the greatest 
importance for its successful growth. 

The period of cutting clover for hay is very important 
because of the change in its character as it approaches ma- 
turity. This change is shown by the following table. 
Composition of Clover Hay. 

U xA il 

o • O ■ . J u <h 53 

Red clover hay. g,*§ a, J a .gSg * « 

Cut in full blossom 77.1 13.4 29.9 3.2 35.8 

Cut when ripe 77.7 9.4 20.3 2.0 48.0 

The very great difference in digestible nutriment is spe- 
cially noticeable; being 50 per cent, in the nitrogenous mat- 
ter — the protein — and nearly 50 yer cent, in the carbona- 
ceous or fat producing matter, and in the fat. This shows 
in a most conspicuous manner the more valuable character 
of clover at its blossoming stage, when it is the most useful 
for feeding or for a green manure. 

Fresh seed only should be sown, and from 6 to 12 lbs. 
per acre is required, as the land may be more or less fertile; 
the richer land requiring the least seed. Clover seed should 
be saved for home use by every farmer. The seed is con- 
tained in the aftermath, which is left to grow and blossom 
and ripen; which it does in September. The clover is then 
mown and the straw is left on the field in winrows until it 
is perfectly dry, w r hen it is taken to a suitable place and 
thrashed, the dry pods separating with great readiness, and 
the seed being easily freed when the heads are in this dry 
state. The seed may be partially cleared from the pods, if 
the straw is thrashed in a machine, and crowded in so as to 
rub the heads and break up the chaff. This is much helped 



290 THE CULTURE OF FARM. CROPS. 

by hanging a sack or a board in the rear of the machine, o 
as to clog the cylinder somewhat and cause a rubbing action, 
which breaks the pods. The fanning mill will clean the 
seed sufficiently for home use. As considerable seed remains 
in the chaff, this should be scattered over pastures and 
meadows which may be reseeded in this manner. 

Lucern, or alfalfa, is the nearest substitute for clover that 
we have. It is not how T ever recommended for use where 
clover will grow; but in the drier regions where clover will 
not succeed, lucern is a most useful crop, and is exceedingly 
productive under irrigation. It is mostly used green for 
feeding cattle and horses, as it makes inferior hay, the stalks 
being woody and hard, and most of the leaves being lost in 
the curing. It is a deep rooted plant, and belongs to the same 
botanical family as clover. The seed used per acre is 12 
to 20 lbs. The usual manner of sowing is in drills, 12 
inches apart. As much as 80 tons of green fodder has been 
cut from an acre of this plant, on the rich irrigated fields 
of the California river bottoms and tule lands. 

Rye is one of the most useful green fodder crops, and is 
indispensable when soiling is practiced, because it is the first 
green crop that is ready for cutting in the spring. It is also 
a valuable green manure crop for the same reason, as it may 
be plowed under in May and can be followed by corn, or 
buckwheat, for the same purpose. For green fodder three 
to five bushels of seed per acre are sown late in August, so 
as to get the crop well rooted and forward before winter. 
In the Southern states this crop makes the best of late fall, 
winter, and spring pasture; and deserves especial notice for 
this purpose; for in the South, especially, improvement in 
the culture of farm crops is exceedingly desirable and there 
is an abounding necessity for it. 

Fodder Corn is the most productive of all the crops 
grown for feeding in a green state. On good land it will 
yield 40 tons of fresh fodder per acre and on moderately 
good land 25 tons is a common yield. The author has 
grown 600 lbs. of evergreen sweet corn to the square rod, 
which is equal to 48 tons per acre, and the whole crop was 



CORN FOR FODDER 291 

quite equal to the plot cut for weighing. This crop was 
not cut until the ears had formed and was cut up in a fod- 
der cutter, ears and stalks together, and fed with some bran 
and corn meal, to dairy cows with a most remarkable in- 
crease in the yield of cream and butter. 

Corn should never be sown broadcast, as it needs light 
and air to mature its sap and make a substantial and nutri- 
tious growth. The best mode of culture, and that usually 
practiced by farmers and dairymen who soil their stock, or 
who preserve their crops by ensilage, is to plant in rows 3 
feet apart, and from 6 inches apart — with single plants — to 
18 inches — with 4 or 5 plants together. This gives suffi- 
cient room for the air and sun light to reach the plants, and 
for the frequent cultivation of the land. (See article on 
corn culture in the next chapter.) The seed required for 
this close planting is about one bushel to the acre. 

The early varieties of sweet corn are especially fit for fod- 
der crops. As soon as the fall rye is cut oft", or as the strip 
of the field is cleared, the ground is manured and plowed. 
Liberal manuring is the secret of large fodder crops. The 
land is then planted with some early variety of sweet corn, 
the Narraganset being commonly prefered on account of its 
longer stalks and larger ears, while it is only a few days lat- 
er than the earliest. By the middle of July this crop is 
ready for use, and as a strip of it is removed the ground is 
at once prepared for another crop; usually evergreen or 
mammoth sweet corn; which matures for use in September 
and thus makes the third crop taken from the land in 5 
months. With ordinary good culture and manuring, at 
least 40 or 50 tons of green fodder may thus be taken from 
one acre of land ; which is sufficient to feed ten cows during 
this period, at the rate of one ton per cow per month or 60 
lbs. to the cow per day. This fact which has been proved 
in continual practice by the author in his dairy, during 
several years, and also by many other dairy farmers, goes 
to prove the great advantage of this method of growing 
crops for the feeding of stock, and the improvement of the 
soil; a necessary result of the feeding of so much stock. 



292 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

One point should not be neglected here. This is the ad- 
vantage gained by the use of the most effective implements 
for the cultivation of the land, and its rapid preparation for 
the crops; avoiding loss of time, which might be a serious 
detriment to the operation. It is only just to acknowledge 
the help which is afforded by such an implement as the 
Acme pulverizing harrow, by which an acre of rye or corn 
stubble may be fitted in the best manner for the next crop 
in one hour; the soil being thoroughly worked to a depth 
of 4 or 5 inches without any plowing. In fact the author 
has cut off a strip of rye of a quarter of an acre for feeding 
his cows, and within 30 minutes has had it planted with 
sweet corn, and fertilized; by the use of the Acme harrow 
and a corn planter with a fertilizer attachment. 

Other crops suitable for soiling or feeding either green or 
dry, are millet; Hungarian grass, which is practically the 
same as millet; the Southern cow pea; oats and peas mixed 
together; and sorghum (which must be used half grown or 
it becomes too hard for use). For these crops the quantity 
of seed to be used will be found stated in the appendix ; the 
methods of cultivation are simply those suitable for any 
crop, applying them to the principles described in former 
chapters, and remembering that to a large extent the soil is 
only the vehicle by which we convey nutriment to the 
crops. 



GHASS CROPS. 



CH APTEE XL VI. 

GRAIN CROPS. 

Wheat is the most important of the grain crops although 
it is surpassed in value and quantity by corn. It is the 
noblest of all farm crops, being the staff of life to the human 
race, and the daily bread of civilized mankind. It is a pro- 
duct of civilization, and is not found growing wild; indeed 
its origin is unknown, and is a matter of dispute among per- 
sons who are curious about such questions. Consequently 
it is the most susceptible plant that is grown to the circum- 
stances and conditions of its culture; and hence it varies 
very much with its locality, climate, soil, and the kind of 
manure or fertilizers used. The wheats of tho Eastern states 
are entirely changed in character after two or three years 
of culture in the west, and the grain grown in the dry cli- 
mate of Colorado, Dakota, and Oregon, differ so much from 
that grown elsewhere, as to be easily distinguishable even 
by a photograph. Hence the attempt to change the char- 
acter of wheat by the introduction of seed from distant local- 
ities will fail, excepting temporarily; for the variation 
caused by special environments will soon change the char- 
acter of the seed, and any difference which might have ex- 
isted will soon disappear. Thus the improvement of the 
grain must come by selection of seed, and by high cultiva- 
tion ; and not by the introduction of foreign grain, however 
superior its appearance, character, and yield may be. It is 
most probable that all the different varieties of wheat, or 
the supposed different varieties, which number hundreds or 
thousands, are after all nothing more than the product of 
climatic influences which are paramount in the growth of 
this grain ; for there is nothing permanent in their character, 
and a change of locality speedily changes the characteristics 
and reduces or advances them — as the case may be — to a 
similarity with the native kinds. 



294 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

The peculiar kind of hard spring wheat, for instance, is a 
a product from the seed of the Scotch Fife, which in its origi- 
nal cool, moist climate, is plump, soft, and filled with starch; 
by reason of its long season of growth ; but in the short sum- 
mer of Dakota and northern Minnesota, the grain is formed 
and ripened in a few days, and hence it is small, dark colored, 
hard, and deficient in starch, but very rich in nitrogen. 
Some samples afford 18 per cent, of gluten, and this enables 
the wheat to produce a very stiff flour which absorbs a large 
quantity of water and produces comparatively more bread 
than the white, soft, starchy wheats. Thus all the care and 
culture which may be given to a sample of wheat foreign to 
any locality, will fail to improve it, or fix its type in its 
new home; and to grow wheat successfully it must be, at 
least to some extent, suited to the climate and soil in which 
it is grown. No doubt the many failures in this respect 
with new seed, or new varieties, are due to this peculiarity 
of the grain; and some climates well suited to spring or fall 
wheat have been condemned as unfit for the growth of one 
or the other variety, simply because a mistake has been 
made in the selection of seed. 

The yield of wheat is also affected by climate. The aver- 
age product of Colorado is 22 bushels; of Connecticut 17J 
bushels; of Michigan 19 bushels; while the Southern states 
produce only from 5 to 9 bushels per acre, and Louisiana 
with its rich soil yields no more than an average of 3£ 
bushels to the acre. No doubt some of this deficiency in 
the yield in the Southern states is due to the wretchedly 
poor culture; the prevailing mode of cultivation being to 
sow the seed upon the ground amid the overpowering weeds,. 
and the corn stalks which have been stripped of leaves and 
topped; and covering it by means of a bull tongue plow by 
which the ground is merely scratched. Wheat cannot be 
grown successfully in such a manner as this. On the con- 
trary the very best preparation should be made for it. A 
crop of 42 bushels per acre has been grown by the author 
on an oat stubble which was plowed as soon as the oats were 
removed, and then well harrowed. The working with the 



CULTURE OF WHEAT. 295 

Acme harrow was repeated twice before sowing. 20 loads 
per acre of good manure was plowed in, and the two work- 
ings with the' Acme mingled this with the soil. Just before 
sowing 40 bushels of air slaked lime per acre were spread, 
after which the seed (the Treadwell variety) was sown at 
the rate of one bushel per acre, and covered, along with the 
lime, by the Acme, which was lapped half over the previous 
bout at each turn. The plants stooled out well and grew 
evenly, with the result mentioned, 13 acres producing 545 
bushels of cleaned wheat. Early plowing, when wheat suc- 
ceeds oats, is indispensable. If left later, the ground becomes 
hardened by the dry weather, and the plowing is defective. 
No other crop demands more thorough preparation of the 
soil, by perfect pulverization and firming by repeated har- 
rowing. Wheat is a shallow rooted plant and a poor for- 
ager; hence its food must be prepared for it and placed 
within its reach. The early plowing, when manure made 
the previous winter and well decayed is covered in; the fre- 
quent workings after that; and the lime; all tend to reduce 
the manure to its original elements, and to liberate a large 
quantity of plant food from the soil, and thus provide a 
rich and copious nourishment for the crop. 

Wheat is profitable when 30 bushels per acre can be 
grown, and that this yield can be secured is unquestionable 
if the necessary conditions of the soil are provided for it. 
The author once sowed 3 ounces of wheat upon a square 
rod of ground in rows 12 inches apart, The ground was 
hoed once a week from the planting until the spreading plants 
wholly covered it, which was before the winter set in. In 
the spring the soil was stirred as much as possible until it 
could no longer be done. At the harvest the grain was 
thrashed, and made 34 lbs. which was equal to 90 bushels 
and 40 lbs. per acre. English farmers by good culture 
and the use of the hoe in spring have grown from 65 
to 70 bushels per acre. Is there any reason why, with 
equally good culture, American farmers could not produce 
a similar yield? We think not. 

Corn, like wheat, is greatly influenced by climate and 



296 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

culture. Being a semi-tropical plant it might be supposed 
that it would flourish best in a Southern climate, and yet 
the product of Maine and New Hampshire averages more 
than twice as much as that of all the Southern states, and 
four times as much as the yield in South Carolina and Geor- 
gia, where the soil is quite as rich as in the stony fields and 
among the granite rocks of northern New England- 
Southern corn has a very much larger grain than that 
grown in the North, but the custom of growing single stalks, 
which prevails in the South, reduces the yield per acre very 
largely. This method is "a custom that would be more 
honored in the breach than the observance;" for the author, 
on his farm in North Carolina, where a part of the year is 
spent, has grown corn successfully in the Northern manner 
with 3 stalks to the hill, and has produced a full crop; hav- 
ing 3 ears to each hill. 

The large yield of a full crop of corn is due to its longer 
season of growth and its vigorous rooting. The roots of 
corn have been found to extend 8 feet in each direction, and 
in a crop grown by the author which yielded 99 bushels per 
acre of shelled grain, the roots, when the soil was washed 
from them by means of a stream of water through a hose, 
formed a close network completely through the rows, and a 
mass of fibers enveloped every visible j;>article of manure. 
This crop was grown on a heavy clover sod from the pre- 
vious year, well manured late in the fall and during the 
winter, and plowed 7 inches deep, late in the spring, when 
the clover was a foot high; the furrow slices being lapped 
in the usual manner at an inclination of about 45 degrees. 
After the plowing the soil was well worked with the Acme 
harrow; which did not disturb the sod or the manure, but 
mixed it with the pulverized soil in the most intimate man- 
ner. The seed was planted with a one horse planter in rows 
3 h. feet apart, dropping 3 or 4 seeds at intervals of 18 inches. 
The part of the field thus prepared was two acres, and the 
crop was husked by the bushel. 398 bushels of ears were 
measured twice, and paid for; and when shelled the produce 
was 198 bushels of shelled grain. This however is by no 



THE CULTURE OF CORN. 297 

means a surprising yield of this crop. A well known far- 
mer of long Island, N. Y., Mr. Wm. Crozier, has produced 
more than 100 bushels per acre. Mr. E. S. Carman of New 
Jersey has grown 140 bushels per acre; the author has 
made a crop on one-sixth of an acre of 25 bushels and 8 
pounds, a farmer in Ohio has grown upon a small plot at 
the rate of 246 bushels of grain to the acre, and a few far- . 
mers boys in New Hampshire, in competition for a prize 
offered by the State Agricultural Society, grew crops of 
from 80 to 120 bushels of grain per acre. 

Why then is it, that in the virgin soils of Iowa and Ne- 
braska, which team with the richest plant food, no more 
than an average of 40 bushels per acre is reached ? Inad- 
equate culture is the secret of small crops always and every- 
where; while thorough tillage of well fed soil ensures 
the largest yield. Weeds and corn cannot give each a full 
crop together. 

Corn cannot be improved by the importation of seed from 
•distant localities. It is a creature of climate and soil. The 
best varieties of corn have been produced by constant, care- 
ful selection, and thorough culture, for years upon the same 
farm. One specially productive variety has been grown on 
the same farm for 80 years; and another has been improved 
from a yield of 40 bushels per acre up to 80 bushels, by Dr. 
E. Lewis Sturtevant of Massachusetts, during 10 years of 
careful selection and culture. 

Corn has a bisexual character, being what is known as 
a monoecious plant; that is one having staminate and pis- 
tillate, or male and female flowers, distinct upon the same 
perfect plant. The tassel is the staminate flower; the silk 
is the pistillate or female flower. Every farmer at husking 
time has observed the numerous stalks which have borne 
only a tassel and have been without ears. These are imper- 
fect plants, and when they are numerous they greatly reduce 
the yield. These imperfect barren plants, however, serve 
their purpose as males in impregnating the perfect plants; 
and according to a natural law which is expressed in the 
phrase "like always produces like," these plants have the 



298 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

effect of making the seed which they impregnate, produce 
plants like themselves; barren male plants; which have no 
fruit, and are consequently worth nothing except for the 
stalks and leaves. Hence a most important part of the cul- 
ture ol corn is to remove the flowers from these stalks, and 
prevent them from exercising their masculine functions and 
propagating their useless kind. This system should always 
be pursued when the improvement of corn is attempted. 
Perseverance in this emasculation of barren plants (by Dr. 
Sturtevant, above mentioned), has tended to increase the 
yield of a crop, after a few years, from 40 to 80 bushels of 
grain per acre ; the increase being chiefly due to the entire 
elimination of barren and earless stalks from the field. 

A fatal mistake in the culture of corn, is the use of the 
plow after the roots have spread across the rows; and this 
happens when the plants are about 18 inches tall. After 
that, only the surface should be stirred, but this should be 
done frequently. For a large yield, this working of the 
surface should be done weekly, and it is the more necessary 
as the weather may be drier; the loosening of the soil — as 
has been explained in a previous chapter — very much in- 
creasing the ability of the porous earth to absorb moisture 
during the night, as it is condensed by the cooling of the 
air, and by the circulation of the moist air in the mellow 
earth as the temperature changes. 

Oats usually follow corn in the prevalent rotation. The 
popular notion that oats are not exhaustive of the soil is 
quite a mistaken one. The whole plant is richer in nitrogen 
and potash, and nearly as rich in phosphoric acid as wheat; 
the grain of which only surpasses oats in respect of the quan- 
tity of phosphoric acid contained in it. Besides, oats yield 
actually a larger weight of produce in an average crop than 
wheat does; hence it takes more from the soil. 

This should be considered in regard to its effect upon the 
soil; for when manure is applied to the crop, the yield is 
very considerably increased. Ten loads of barn yard man- 
ure per acre have increased the yield of a crop of oats to 78 
bushels per acre, when with no manure, the yield on another 



THE CULTURE OF OATS AND BARLEY. 299 

part of the same field, naturally quite as fertile, was only 52 
bushels. The land in this case was sown with clover with 
the oats and on the manured land the clover was much bet- 
ter than on the other part of the field, which showed that 
the manure was by no means exhausted by the oats. Oats 
will succeed well on land that is too moist for wheat or bar- 
ley, and newly broken sod land usually produces a good 
crop. When sown on a corn stubble, the land should be 
plowed in the fall, the same way in which the corn rows 
ran, so as to cover the stubs completely. For this end the 
corn should always be cut low and near the ground. In 
the spring a thorough working with the Acme harrow fits 
the ground in an excellent manner for the oats. 2i bushels 
of seed should be sown per acre, and the Acme harrow cov- 
ers the seed j)erfectly and to the pro] er depth, as well as 
a drill will. This grain varies considerably in character, 
weighing from 24 to 55 lbs. per bushel. In a cool moist 
climate, as that of Scotland or the North of Ireland, oats 
reach perfection; weighing heavier than any other, and of- 
ten weighing 55 lbs. per bushel. In Ameri », the best 
oats are grown in the Northern and Eastern part of Cana- 
da; and it is advisable to procure seed from this locality for 
the purpose of growing a heavier grain for a few years, un- 
til the crop deteriorates by reason of the less favorable in- 
fluences of a warm dry summer. Oats should be sown as 
early in the spring as possible to get a long growing season. 
We have had excellent oats from crops sown on ground 
which was frozen 4 inches below the surface; but having 
been fall plowed, and being dry above the frozen subsoil, 
the land was perfectly well fitted by the use of the Acme 
harrow. This early sowing is of great importance and se- 
cures a full yield of heavy grain. 

Barley is too much neglected as a farm crop; perhaps 
because its value as a feeding grain for horses and swine is 
not well known, and its culture exacts more labor in the 
preparation of the soil. But no farmer should hesitate to 
grow a crop for the latter reason; when it is one of the ax- 
ioms of agriculture that the best possible culture of the soil 



oUU THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

is not only profitable for the larger crops grown, but that 
the fertility of the land is permanently improved by it. 
Farmers know very well that the soil may be injured for 
many years to come by injudicious culture, as by plowing 
clay land when it is wet, or by plowing too deeply and 
burying the fertile surface soil under a covering of raw in- 
fertile subsoil ; in a corresponding manner, but conversely, 
the thorough pulverization of the land — which is necessary 
for the successful growth of barley — improves it for years 
to come. It is this fact which made the arduous labor of a 
previously popular summer fallow profitable, by increasing 
the yield of all the crops which followed it during the whole 
rotation. It also furnishes a sufficient inducement for far- 
mers to summer fallow the land as a preparation for laying 
a field down to permanent meadow. 

Barley costs no more to cultivate than wheat; but it 
yields a greater weight per acre of grain, and is worth more 
in the market or for feeding. Its use for brewing gives it 
a high value in the market, but we would advocate its cul- 
ture for other purposes than this, viz . for its value for feed- 
ing and for its excellence as a crop to seed down to grass 
and clover with. Barley weighs from 50 to 64 lbs. per 
bushel being thus only a little lighter than wheat. The av- 
erage weight throughout the United States and Canada is 
54 lbs. to the bushel. 

This grain requires a thoroughly mellow clean soil, and 
thrives best in a rich medium light loam inclined to clay; 
although the lightest colored and thinnest skinned grain is 
grown on sandy loam. 2 bushels of seed is sown per acre 
early in the spring. It follows a root crop that has been 
manured and fertilized, admirably; and in the lengthened 
rotation suggested in a previous chapter, this would be its 
most appropriate place; clover being sown with it, and oats 
succeeding the corn and preceding the roots. 

Rye is not an important grain crop and yet it is largely 
grown by farmers who cannot, or do not, make the culture 
of w T heat profitable. The grain is more nutritious than 
wheat and makes very sweet and palatable bread. When 



THE CULTURE OF BUCKWHEAT AND PEAS. 301 

ground with corn in equal measures it makes the best feed 
for horses, to be used with cut straw and hay; and if mixed 
with corn for fattening hogL, it makes a more healthful food 
than corn alone, adding to the amount of albuminoids of the 
corn and reducing proportionately its excess of carbonaceous 
matter. Its culture is exceedingly easy, being-the least ex- 
acting grain in this respect grown upon farms; and it is not 
so much injured by heaving out in the winter as wheat is. 
Notwithstanding its average poor yield, it pays well for 
good culture. We have grown 45 bushels per acre upon 
a well cultivated corn stubble, which was prepared without 
plowing by thorough working with the Acme harrow. The 
straw is the most valuable of all kinds for feeding, and rye 
bran is more nutritious than that of wheat, and superior to 
it for feeding to dairy cows. 

Buckw t heat deserves more notice and consideration than 
it receives at the hands of farmers generally. It is a val- 
uable crop when it receives the treatment it deserves. The 
great need of our agriculture is more feeding crops and this 
grain is valuable for this use. When ground with corn 
and rye it is excellent food for horses, cattle, and swine; 
and the mixed grains unground, are exceedingly well adapt- 
ed for sheep. This grain requires cool weather to mature 
the seed and is therefore sown late in the summer; in July 
in the north, and August in the south. It never fails to 
yield a paying crop, producing from 20 to 75 bushels per 
acre according to the richness of the soil and the favorable 
season. The latter yield was once reached by the author,, 
upon a piece of newly cleared and broken woodland and in 
a year when the frosts held off until November. The crop 
comes in at such a time as to make it very convenient. 
Any piece of rough ground, well broken up, suits it; but 
good culture before sowing the seed greatly enhances the 
product. A peck of seed per acre is sufficient. The seed 
should be well covered and the Acme harrow is beyond a 
doubt the best implement for covering it. * 

Peas are one of the leguminous family of plants to which 
clover belongs, and like this plant, have a favorable effect 



302 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

upon the soil. This effect of peas however is inferior to that 
of clover because they leave a much less quantity of refuse 
matter — as roots and stubble — in the soil; but the dense 
shade afforded by the plants, and the nitrogenous character 
of what remains upon the soil, of their refuse; leave it in 
a favorable condition for a succeeding crop. Wheat follow- 
ing peas, usually succeeds much better than it does after 
oats or corn, or even after a fallow, and this rotation is a 
favorite one where peas are largely grown, as in Canada, 
where they make a substitute for corn. 

Peas leave the soil very clean and mellow; their dense 
shade preventing the growth of weeds, and keeping the 
ground moist. The seed (1 i bushels per acre) is sown early 
in the spring, and as it is difficult to cover them with the 
common spike tooth harrow, it is better to cover them with 
the plow or the cultivator, or the Acme harrow, which is 
better than either, and equal to both together. The seed 
should be covered at least 3 inches deep. In some locali- 
ties this crop is grown for sale green, in the town or city 
markets, with much profit. In this case the seed is sown 
in drills 12 or 20 inches apart; or in two double drills 8 
inches apart, with spaces of two feet between each two drills, 
to give room for working the ground. 

This is an excellent feeding crop; the grain and the 
vines being both exceedingly nutritious, the grain contain- 
ing 22 \ per cent, of albuminoids, and 52 £ per cent, of car- 
bonaceous matter. The former consists largely of a nitro- 
genous substance called legumin, which is almost precisely 
the same as caseine of milk in composition and character, 
and so much so, that a very good cheese is made from peas 
by the Chinese. The straw contains 6* per cent, of albumi- 
noids, (timothy hay contains 9£ per cent.) and 35 J per cent, 
of carbonaceous matter; (timothy hay has 48 f per cent. 
of it). 

Cow Peas are extensively grown in the South for fod- 
der, and for a green manuring crop; and are of much value 
in both ways. This plant however is not a pea, but a va- 
riety of bean; it is however included under the subhead of 



THE CULTURE OF BEANS. 303 

peas, as it is better known as a pea. There are several va- 
rieties of this plant, but they differ in no material point; and 
the mode of cultivating and using all of them is the 
same. A common mode of planting this crop is to drop the 
seed among the corn at the last working; but it is much 
more profitable when grown by itself, and treated as well as 
any other crop. Its culture is the same as that of the com- 
mon bean, which it resembles in its appearance and man- 
ner of growth; the pods however being round and not flat, 
as those of the bean are. 

This crop might be made exceedingly useful to Southern 
farmers as a fodder or a grain crop; and for plowing under 
as manure upon the lands exhausted by the culture of to- 
bacco and cotton. When grown for the latter purpose 
it should be sown early (a bushel of seed to the acre), 
and turned under when in full blossom; a second crop 
being immediately sown and turned under in time for 
sowing wheat. 

Beans are grown in some localities very largely and as 
a special crop. Several kinds are grown; the marrowfat, 
the pea bean, or navy bean (this is the most valuable in the 
market); the red kidney, and the black soup bean. The 
plant matures quickly, and although exceedingly rich in 
nutritious matter — a little more so than peas — it is by no 
means exacting in regard to the fertility of the soil. It be- 
longs to the leguminous family of plants, all of which pos- 
sess the ability to get a large quantity of nitrogen from some 
unknown source, and therefore make a good yield upon 
land upon which other crops would thrive but poorly. The 
crop is grown in drills 18 inches apart, the seed used being 
about a bushel and a half to the acre. It might be made 
to take a valuable place in a rotation of 8 or more crops, as 
the product is quite salable at very profitable prices, and is 
also a valuable food for horses, sheep, and swine, when 
ground with corn. The haulm is also exceedingly 
nutritious and contains 10? per cent, of albuminoids in its 
dry state. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

ROOT CROPS. 

The culture of root crops is beneficial to the farmer in 
two ways; one in producing a large quantity of exceedingly 
nutritious and succulent food for use in the winter, helping- 
to increase the quantity of manure made by feeding an in- 
creased number of stock, and thus enriching the soil; as 
well as greatly helping to keep down weeds and clean the 
land by the thorough cultivation required. For these rea- 
sons, a root crop should always be brought into the rotation 
to be followed by spring grain, either oats or barley — the 
latter being preferable — with clover to follow. It has been 
objected to this that our climate is not well adapted to roots; 
but this is not true in regard to the best of all the roots, viz: 
mangels, and sugar beets, for which our warm and dry cli- 
mate is specially well adapted. The author has grown man- 
gels at the rate of 1200 bushels, or 36 tons per acre; and 
800 bushels of sugar beets of the large growing variety known 
as "Lane's improved," (originated by the Hon. Henry Lane 
of Burlington, Vermont). This quantity of mangels is suf- 
ficient to feed 12 head of cattle, with a daily ration of half 
a bushel per head, for 200 days, or more than 6 months; 
that is from November to May; or during the full feeding- 
season. The cost of growing these crops averaged $60. per 
acre, including 600 lbs. per acre of Mapes complete man- 
ure, and 600 lbs. of salt; costing about $15. per acre in all. 
This shows the profit of this crop, for the half bushel of roots 
was the principal winter feed for cows which were making 
10 lbs. of butter each per week, and this feed, upon 
which the yield of butter chiefly depended, cost only 2? 
cents per day. Thus roots are readily seen to be a large 
factor in the profitable culture of farm crops, and have a 
place in it which no other crop can fill as well as they. 



THE CULTURE OF ROOTS 305 

The soil requires the most thorough preparation for roots. 
Usually they follow corn. The land should be well plowed 
in the fall, a liberal quantity of manure being plowed un- 
der, and left until the spring, when it is worked with the 
Acme harrow, or with a cultivator, and laid off in shallow 
furrows 27 inches apart for the seed ; or the seed is sown 
with a hand drill, on the mellow soil; the drill covering the 
seed and rolling the ground over it. This leaves the seed 
rows plainly marked, so that they can be worked before the 
young plants are above the ground. This is necessary be- 
cause the successful growth of roots depends chiefly upon 
the entire absence of weeds and the frequent culture of the 
land. The method followed by the writer is as follows. 
After the seed has been sown as above, the rows are worked 
a week after, by running a hand cultivator along them, the 
scrapers working on each side of the row, loosening the soil 
and destroying the young weeds. As soon as the young 
plants show above the ground, the hand cultivator is spread 
to 10 inches in width, and is run across the rows; cutting 
out the surplus plants, and leaving them at this distance 
apart in bunches in the main rows. The hand cultivator 
is kept going over the rows and across them, until the 
young plants are strong; when the bunches are thinned out to 
single plants and any vacant spaces may be resown or filled by 
transplanting the surplus jilants. After this, the horse hoe 
is run through the middles, the weeds killed, and the soil 
worked; and by this time the young plants will need no 
more hoeing; excepting the hand hoe run crosswise in the 
10 inch spaces. The horse hoe is kept going through the 
main rows until the spread of the leaves prevents it, when 
the crop is left to take care of itself. The quantity of seed 
used is 6 lbs. per acre. This is much more than is required, 
but a large proportion of the seed will fail to grow, and it 
is cheaper to have full rows, and cut most of the plants out, 
than to have a short crop or many empty spaces. 

The roots are harvested as follows. After the first sharp 
frosts, the work is done without delay. A workman passes 
along the row and with a sharp hoe cute the tops close to- 



306 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

the roots, leaving them in the row to his left. He returns 
along the row cutting to his right, and leaving the tops with 
the others. Thus every second space would have a row of 
tops in it. Another man follows the first and with a blunt 
hook or a digging fork, takes up the roots and throws two 
rows into the space beyond the second row; returning, he 
takes two more rows and throws the roots with the others; 
thus gathering four rows into one. Thus there will be first 
a row of tops then a row of roots, and then another row of 
tops. Next will be an empty space, and then the rows of 
tops and roots are repeated as before. In loading, the horse 
and cart (a cart should be kept on every farm where roots 
are grown) are taken down the empty row, the horse being 
thus driven through the field without treading on the tops 
or roots, and the roots are first taken up and carted to the 
root pit or the cellar, where the cart is tipped and the roots are 
dumped all at once, without any hand work. The roots are 
lifted into the cart with the digging forks, which should 
have curved prongs upon which the roots may be lifted into 
the cart easily. 

Potatoes are a most important crop for those farmers 
who keep but few stock, and have a near market in some 
large city or towm. The mode of cultivating them is much 
the same as that practiced for mangels, excepting that the 
rows are made 3 feet apart, and the cuttings are dropped in 
the rOAVs from 12 to 16 inches apart. A clover sod 
plowed under in the fall and well worked with the Acme 
harrow in the spring, when 10 or 20 loads per acre of fine 
manure are given, and mixed with the soil by the harrowing, 
makes an excellent preparation. By the use of machines 
for planting, a working soon after planting with a smooth- 
ing harrow ; a good horse hoe to cultivate the rows well and 
often — not earthing up the rows too much — and a digging 
machine; this crop can be grown for 30 cents a oushel in- 
cluding all expenses. Artificial fertilizers are preferable 
for potatoes in place of manure; as the ravages of the inju- 
rious wire worm are avoided by their use. 

Various opinions are held by good farmers in regard to 



THE CULTURE OF POTATOES AND TURNIPS. 307 

the best manner of planting and cutting the seed; some pre- 
ferring cuttings with but one eye, and others with two or 
three. We prefer the common method, viz : to choose 
medium sized well shaped tubers, and cut them by sloping 
cuts, beginning at the top end, into sets each having two 
eyes; and dropping two sets together, about 24 inches apart 
in the rows, which are 3 feet apart. This gives about 7000 
hills to the acre. Until the plants are well up, the horse 
hoe is run both ways; afterwards it is run in the wider rows 
and set to throw the soil to the plants, so as to make a low 
broad ridge. This crop is greatly helped by frequent stir- 
ring of the soil on the surface until the blossoming is full, 
and the tops are in the way of further work. 400 bushels 
per acre is as little as a good farmer should be satisfied 
with. 

Turnips are of little value where mangels or beets are 
grown. Of the varieties in cultivation the ruta-baga, or 
Swede turnip, is the only one worth growing as it will keep 
in good condition through the winter. But mangels are 
more easily grown and are far superior for feeding to all 
kinds of stock; hence the culture of turnips is not one to be 
recommended in this country, where good farming prevails. 

English farmers grow Swedes largely for feeding them off 
from the land by sheep; a practice quite impracticable 
with us. 

Sweet Potatoes are a most valuable crop in the South, 
where other roots are not suitable to the climate. 300 
bushels per acre may be grown with good culture; and for 
feeding to all kinds of stock, these tubers are unsurpassed. 

Carrots and Parsnips are excellent roots for cows, 
horses, and sheep; but they are no better than mangels, and 
are not so easily grown, hence are not desirable crops for 
ordinary farm purposes. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

TEXTILE CROPS. 

Cotton is the leading crop of the Southern States, and 
farmers in the South necessarily pay the most attention to 
it. It is however, in general, so poorly cultivated, that it 
scarcely pays for the labor bestowed upon it, and yields no 
profit. The average yield is no more than 150 lbs. per acre, 
which brings no more than $9. in the market; while 500 
to 600 lbs. is easily grown by the best farmers, who follow 
a scientific culture; manuring the soil and working it in 
accordance with the true principles of culture; and in some 
cases the yield has reached 1500 or 2000 lbs. to the acre. 
The system of culture through the cotton region is gener- 
ally the reverse of economical; and nowhere else is the cul- 
ture of farm crops pursued upon a less satisfactory method. 
This system has grown out of the peculiar circumstances of 
the Southern farmers for many years past; but the changes 
which have recently occurred have reversed these conditions 
so as to bring the necessities of the case so nearly to those 
of other farmers, that the old system is rapidly changing for 
a more modern one, and the methods of culture pursued 
elsewhere are being adopted. These are a rotation of crops; 
the culture of fodder crops and the rearing and feeding of 
stock; the making and use of manure; and the use of all 
the most improved implements. The best of the modern 
plows are fast taking the place of the very imperfect bull 
tongue; the Acme harrow is coming into use in place of the 
common wooden or iron spike harrow; and cultivators,, 
mowing machines, grain drills, and reapers, are seen as in 
other localities. All this must have a favorable result upon 
the staple crop of the South; reduce the cost of growing and 
increase the product of it; thus greatly adding to the profit 
of the Southern farmers, and improve the condition of the 
Southern States generally. 



THE CULTURE OF COTTON. 309 

Cotton is an exhaustive crop. The fiber is almost pure 
■carbon and contains very little that is drawn from the soil. 
But the seed is exceedingly rich in nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid, and potash; and thus draws very heavily upon the 
land. 1000 lbs. of seed contains 35 to 40 lbs. of nitrogen; 
20 lbs. of potash; and 30 lbs. of phosphoric acid. As there 
are 2 pounds of seed produced for every pound of ginned 
cotton, a crop of 500 lbs. of clean fiber per acre therefore 
takes from the soil the above quantities of valuable ele- 
ments, and thus calls for an adequate return of manure or 
fertilizer. 

The large quantity of carbon in this crop may be all de- 
rived from the atmosphere, but at the same time it is indis- 
pensable for the full exercise of this function of the plant, 
that it should have the most vigorous development possible; 
and to secure this the soil should not only be furnished with 
every other element in abundance, but it should have an 
adequate supply of carbonaceous matter in the soil. 

Hence the same kind of rotation that is practiced where 
the common sorts of farm crops are grown, will be found 
valuable to the cotton planter; and the plowing in of green, 
crops, and the use of stable manure, as well as of special 
artificial fertilizers, will be found necessary for the produc- 
tion of a full yield of cotton. 

Cotton is a tropical plant and requires much heat and a 
hot sun for its successful culture. It also requires a rich 
soil. The methods of culture practiced by the best farmers 
in the South are as follows. The land is broken in the 
fall; usually it is a fallow or newly cleared ground. It is 
then "bedded" in the spring, and manure is plowed in as 
the beds are made. The beds are about 3 or 4 feet wide 
and are raised somewhat in the center. The middle of the 
bed is then split and a furrow is made in which some com- 
post or fertilizer is dropped, an I this is covered lightly with 
soil. The seed is then sown and covered. A machine for 
planting seed is in use which saves labor and expense in. this 
w T ork. The great pest of the cotton planter is the prevalent 
crab grass which has been permitted to seed on the land 



310 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

until the soil is so thoroughly filled with it, that it is very 
difficult keep it down. For this reason the most thor- 
ough cultivation is required. The horse hoe which may be 
worked close to the rows is the best implement for this 
work; but some hand hoeing is required, until the land is 
rid of the prevailing weeds by thorough culture, for several 
years. 

The continual growth of corn and cotton on the same 
land, without adequate manuring, has exhausted much of the 
soil in the cotton growing districts; and the custom of throw- 
ing out the land to "old field" until it grows up again with 
timber, and in the meantime becomes cut up and gullied by 
the rains, has given an unpleasing appearance to the Southern 
country. This will no doubt be remedied in course of time, 
when a more profitable system is introduced; and the cul- 
ture of farm crops is made a study. No doubt a reasonable 
and scientific rotation of crops; the culture of wheat; sweet 
potatoes and fodder crops for the feeding of stock, with the 
surplus cotton seed; and the production of the requisite 
manure, clover, and such of the grasses as are adapted for 
the climate; will in time change the customs of the farmers 
and the appearance of the country for the better, and add 
greatly to the wealth and comfort of the people. 

Flax is one of the most valuable of the textile crops, 
and succeeds best in a cool climate and in rich moist soil. 
It is largely grown in the west for the seed which is used 
for the production of linseed oil, but the fiber is really the 
most valuable part of the plant. This use of it however is 
greatly curtailed in this country for some reasons, which 
are difficult to understand, and our supplies of linens are 
brought from foreign countries. Nevertheless, as there is a 
profitable demand for the seed, and it is most valuable for 
feeding to sheep and cattle for fattening, there is a place 
for this crop upon every well ordered farm in the country. 

A clay loam, or rather light rich sod, is the best for this 
crop. A grass or clover sod suits it admirably. The land 
is plowed in the spring and well pulverized, and half a 
bushel of seed per acre is sown. Early sowing is advisable. 



THE CULTURE OF FLAX AND HEMP. 311 

and as the thinner seeding gives more branchy stems and 
yields more seed, the above quantity should not be exceeded, 
except when the fiber is the object, when double this quan- 
tity is used. 

Hemp is grown largely in Kentucky and Missouri upon 
the rich lands, which under a favorable climate yield profit- 
able crops. Its culture is similar to that of flax; excepting 
that as the seeds are borne upon pistillate or female plants, 
which are fertilized by other plants which bear the stami- 
nate flowers, and produce the pollen, it is necessary to thin 
out these fruitless plants during the cultivation of the crop 
so as to give more room to the seeding plants; also to trans- 
plant as many as may be required if they are deficient in 
certain parts of the field. 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 

The growth of tobacco has brought not only a great 
amount of wealth into the country, but by reason of exhaus- 
tive culture, it has brought barrenness and temporary ruin 
upon many a fair field, which might have otherwise been 
kept in a productive condition. It is an exhaustive crop 
as is seen by the following analysis of its ash. 

Composition of Tobacco. 

Whole plant. Ash, 
(in 1000 parts). (in 100 parts). 

Water 180 

Ash 197.5 

Potash 54.1 27.4 

Soda 7.3 3.7 

Magnesia 20.7 10.5 

Lime 73.1 37.0 

Phosphoric acid 7.1 3.6 

Sulphuric acid 7.7 3.9 

Silica 19.0 9.6 

Chlorine 8.8 4.5 

Tobacco is the most exhaustive crop grown, as far as re- 
gards the mineral elements drawn from the soil. A crop 
of 1000 lbs. takes up as much mineral matter as 3000 lbs. 
of hay; as much lime as 10,000 lbs.; as much magnesia as 
3000 lbs. and as much phosphoric acid as 2000 lbs. Re- 
peated crops of it therefore soon bring the soil to a condi- 
tion of exhaustion of its available fertility, and render it 
barren. Every element of plant growth is taken up by 
tobacco and the nitrogen is as largely drawn upon as the rest. 
Its culture therefore is one to be taken up with caution, and 
every care to supply the soil with adequate food; and al- 
though the profit realized from it is very large, this temp- 
tation should not lead the farmer to sacrifice the soil for the 
sake of it. The land is not really a personal inheritance. 
It is most truly given to mankind to use it for the best in- 
terests of the race, and much like the owners life, which he 



THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 313 

may think to be his own to do as he pleases with it, but 
which cannot be wasted and thrown away or destroyed 
without a breach of divine or human laws; so the land can- 
not be wasted or destroyed by its owner without the inflic- 
tion of an injury upon the public, and the breach of a strict 
moral obligation to use it for the good of mankind. " This 
thought should never be lost sight of by a farmer, and 
should be an impulse to his efforts to use his land so as to 
make it most productive to his own comfort and happiness, 
and to the welfare of his race. 

Although tobacco is exceedingly exhaustive it may be 
grown in a rotation without loss or damage. It will not 
take more from the soil than can be easily returned to it in 
the form of a green crop plowed in ; a liberal dressing of 
manure; and artificial fertilizers, consisting of superphos- 
phate of lime; potash salts; (the muriate however is not 
fitted for this crop and the sulphate only is to be used) and 
sulphate of magnesia; with blood and flesh fertilizer which 
is rich in nitrogen. A clover sod plowed under in the fall 
so that it is well decomposed by the spring, will furnish the 
nitrogen needed for this crop, and "the land will be in an 
excellent condition for it in other ways. Where this crop 
is thus brought into a rotation and alternated with other 
farm crops, there is no reason why its culture, may not be 
made as useful and profitable as that of wheat, clover, or 
potatoes. The clean culture that is required is certainly 
very serviceable in preparing the land for other crops. 

Tobacco is grown with profit only under systematic and 
skillful culture. The land is prepared as above described, 
and the plants are grown in beds and transplanted to the 
field when the weather is settled and warm. The plant 
beds are made much in the same way as for cabbages; a 
piece of rich soil being prepared, and freed from weeds by 
having a brush pile burned over it. A tablespoonful of 
seed is sown upon a square rod, and furnishes enough plants 
for an acre of land. The seed is sown early so as to have 
the plants ready as soon as the time arrives for transplant- 
ing, and these are moved from the beds when the leaves are 



314 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

as large as a silver dollar. The plants are rather tender; 
they require fine mellow soil, and to be set out when the 
ground is moist or just before a rain. The French planters 
who take special care of this crop, cover each plant with 
a conical cup made of paper twisted into the desired shape, 
and which protects the young plants from the sun until they 
have become well rooted. The plants are protected from 
frost and cold rains in the seed beds by a covering of brown 
sheeting spread over a frame surrounding the bed. 

As soon as the plants are established in the field, each 
one receives a small quantity of artificial fertilizer, a mix- 
ture of hen manure, wood ashes, and plaster, is excellent 
for this purpose; the large quantity of sulphuric acid and 
lime in the ash calls for a corresponding supply of sulphate 
of lime (plaster), and this is of great use to push the young 
plants forward. The soil is kept fine and mellow by fre- 
quent cultivation during the growth of the crop. The 
great enemy of the tobacco plant is the larvae of a sphynx 
moth, the same which depredates upon tomatoes, a very 
large light green worm with oblique yellowish stripes 
upon its sides. This worm will eat large holes in the leaves 
in a night, and if left unmolested would soon strip the stalks 
bare and destroy the crop. They are sought out early in 
the morning and at evening, and destroyed. Turkeys are 
eager in the search for these worms, and a flock of them 
kept in a field and fed there, will do good service in ridding 
the plants of the pest. 

Another indispensable and constant labor is the removal 
of the numerous suckers which grow from the axils of the 
leaves as soon as they become large. These suckers are to 
be pinched off as soon as they appear, or they will seriously 
retard the growth of the leaves. The object of the grower 
is to get large well shaped perfect leaves; and to secure 
this end, the plants are pushed into vigorous growth and 
preserved from whatever may be an injury to them. A 
profitable crop is not made without great watchfulness and 
care, and the skill to do the right thing at the right time. 
The last process in the cultivation is the topping of the 



RIPENING AND CURING OF TOBACCO. 315 

plants. This is done as soon as the flower buds appear. 
These are pinched off with the small leaves at the top of the 
stalk. From 8 to 14 leaves are left to grow. The small 
varieties, especially the bright yellow kinds, or the finer 
textured wrappers, and the Oronoko and Persian tobacco 
used for cutting for cigarettes, are topped at 8 or 10 leaves. 
The larger kinds have 10 to 14 leaves left upon the stalks. 
After this work has been done the constant care of the 
planter is exercised in keeping the suckers pinched, and re- 
moving any later flower buds which may appear. All this 
care tends to throw the whole strength of the plant into the 
leaves, and not only to increase the size, but to improve 
their texture and substance. At this stage of the plant, the 
watchfulness of the planter is redoubled, to save the leaves 
from the worms, and to remove any of them which may be- 
come rusted, and the lowest ones which may be in the way 
of cutting. 

When the leaves are fully grown, the ripening stage is 
watched with care lest the leaves become too ripe. As soon 
as they begin to turn yellow, the time to cut the plants has 
arrived. This is done by severing the stalks near the 
ground and below the lowest leaves with a sharp knife. 
The stalk is first pierced with the point of the blade and 
slit for the length of several inches to facilitate the curing. 
The plants are then strung upon a stout lath until it is full, 
and the lath and the plants are placed in a rack to be car- 
ried to the curing house. This is a substantial building, 
protected from the weather, but provided with numerous 
ventilators for admitting or excluding air, when the 
curing- is done without fire heat. When fire heat is 
made use of, the house is provided with a few ventilators 
for regulating the temperature, and with a fire place, and 
flues traversing the lower part of the building, for raising 
the temperature to a sufficient degree. The tobacco here 
undergoes a process of drying; after which the curing is 
completed by bulking the leaves, stripped from the stalk 
and bound by their pedicels or stems into bundles or bands 
of a dozen or thereabouts. These bundles are placed in 



316 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

compact, long piles, and weighted. They then undergo a 
fermentation in which some heat is developed, and this 
process brings out the flavor and peculiarities of the leaf. 
After this has been completed, the leaves are packed in 
boxes or hogsheads for sale. The price of the finished leaf 
varies very much, ranging from 3 or 4 cents per pound, up 
to 75 cents or one dollar, or even higher for the yellow col- 
ored and finest varieties. The yield varies from 500 to 
1500 lbs. of cured leaf per acre. 



THE CULTURE OF HOPS. 



CHAPTER L. 

SPECIAL CROPS. 

Hops are grown with great profit as a farm crop, when 
the grower understands the manner of culture, and has suffi- 
cient perseverance, persistence, and patience, to withstand 
the numerous accidents and drawbacks which are met with 
in this business. These are due to the adversity of the sea- 
son; the diseases which affect the plant; the insects which 
infest it; and the extraordinary fluctuations of the market 
caused by the condition of the growing crop, or the gam- 
bling propensities of the dealers who handle it after it leaves 
the farmers hands; or of the speculators who never see it 
but yet venture thousands of dollars in attempts to raise or 
lower the market value of it. 

Hops are grown of the best quality on a rich clay loam 
abounding in limestone, and well supplied with decomposed 
vegetable matter. They are found growing naturally in 
swamps or wet soil that is rich in organic matter; but un- 
der cultivation will thrive in any soil that is made rich 
and is well cultivated. They are chiefly grown in central 
New York; in southern Wisconsin; Oregon; and Califor- 
nia; and in these localities are found occasionally in fields 
of 10, 20, and even up to 100 acres in California. A 5 
acre hop field is however as much as the average, for this 
crop costs a large amount in the preparation and furnish- 
ing of the land, and for the drying kilns, and a good deal 
of labor in its cultivation. 

The method of culture is as follows. The land chosen 
is thoroughly well prepared and is laid out with furrows 7 
feet apart each way. At the intersections, a hill is made, 
and enriched with well decayed manure. At each hill, 
two or three sets, or root cuttings, are planted, about a foot 
apart; and in the center of the hill room is left for planting 
a long stout pole 1-1 or 16 feet long for the vines to climb 



318 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

upon. The first year there is no crop; but the land is 
planted with potatoes; being of course first plowed and cul- 
tivated. The Acme harrow is exceedingly well adapted for 
the culture of hop fields as it entirely fills the space between 
the hills and leaves the whole ground worked in the best 
manner, without tearing out the manure applied to the hills; 
and when the field is crossed the whole of it is cultivated 
with far less labor and in a much better manner than with 
the ordinary horse hoe or harrow. The second year there 
is half a crop, and a full crop is made the third year. As 
the hop is a dioecious plant, that is one in which the stami- 
nate and pistillate flowers are borne upon different plants, 
grown from different roots, it is necessary that a certain 
number of the staminate plants should be grown to provide 
pollen for fertilizing the pistillate plants, which bear the 
fruit or perfect hops. The bitter substance known as "lu- 
pulin," which is the valuable part of the hops, is deposited 
among the scales and around the seeds of the pistillate 
flowers which must be fertilized by the pollen of the stami- 
nate plants. The staminate plants are usually set out in 
every seventh hill each way, thus making one hill to every 
48 of the pistillate kind. 

Hops are an exacting crop on the soil. The following 
table giving the analysis of the fruit, and the entire plant, 
shows this. 

Composition of Sops and their Ash. 

i7 « Ash of 
T ,^«^ ™ . Hops. Entire plant. Hops. 
In 1000 lbs. Plant, ( dr J) y !__, 

( dr y) , (per cent.) 

Water 250 120 

Ash 74 59.8 

Potash 19.4 22.3 26.2 37.3 

Soda 2.8 1.3 3.8 2.2 

Magnesia 4.3 2.1 5.8 5.5 

Lime 11.8 10.1 16.0 16.9 

Phosphoric acid 9.0 9.0 12.1 15.1 

Sulphuric acid. 3.8 1.6 5.4 2.6 

Silica 15.9 9.2 21.5 15.4 

Sulphur 2.0 4.8 4.6 3.4 

The above figures afford a key to the problem of the 
methods of fertilization of this crop, and explains why cer- 
tain substances are effective in producing a vigorous growth. 



MANURES FOR HOPS. 319 

Wool waste for instance, gives an extraordinary result up- 
on this crop, and the effect is explained by the fact that 
wool is rich in sulphur, and also in nitrogen, which is also 
largely contained in this crop. 

Plaster (sulphate of lime) is also useful, as it supplies both 
sulphuric acid and lime. But the main reliance for the 
feeding of the crop is stable manure. This is one of the ob- 
jectionable features of the business of growing special crops 
like this, for unless the farmer makes some special and ade- 
quate provision for the manure, by the way of feeding some 
purchased concentrated food with such coarse fodder as 
he can grow, to his stock, the chances are great that the 
rest of the farm may be deprived of its share of the man- 
ure, and the special crop get a larger portion than can be 
afforded. The careful farmer, who has the tact and skill 
to grow these special crops successfully, and is tempted 
thereto by the large amount of cash which they bring in, 
will always have a certain amount of stock feeding in this 
way above indicated, for the purpose of making an extra 
quantity of manure which can be extended by the addition 
of such other materials as can be composted with it. A well 
made compost, in which stable manure; swamp muck (this 
is especially valuable for this crop); wool waste; butchers 
offal; tanners waste; such as hair and fleshings, with the 
lime used in removing the hair, and if possible the ashes 
from the burning of the tan bark; the sweepings of town 
and village streets; night soil; and other similar matters, 
are mixed, and well decomposed; furnishes an excellent 
basis for the manuring of a hop field. The extra fertilizers 
are gypsum and plaster; superphosphate of lime; dried flesh 
and blood; the potash salts; and spent hops from breweries. 

This crop is often seriously damaged by mildew which 
affects the leaves, and stops the growth of the plants; and 
by the hop louse or aphis which entirely covers the plant 
on the under side of the leaves, and ruins the crop. The 
white grub, which eats the roots; and rust which sometimes 
attacks the leaves, also damage the crop, and seriously re- 
duce the profit of it. Hail, at times, batters the vines and 



320 THE CULTURE OF FARM CBOPS. 

beats off the fruit; and dry weather at the setting of the 
cones, decreases the produce. On the other hand, when all 
the favoring circumstances tend to make a large yield of 
fine hops, the prices are so low as to render the crop almost 
wholly unprofitable. Nevertheless, on an average of sea- 
sons, the hop grower who well understands his business, 
gives close attention and care to it, and at the same time 
has "other eggs in his basket" and does not depend upon 
this crop alone, always has a satisfactory reward for his 
labor; and some years, is repaid in a most handsome and 
profuse manner for his care and skill. 

The hops are picked when the yellow, bitter powder — 
the lupulin, or extractive principle of the flower — appears 
within the scales, and can be beaten out from them when 
the flower is dry. The picking is hurried forward as fast 
as possible, and as the hops are picked they are dried in 
kilns, upon wire gauze doors under which a large stove is 
kept heated. When dry, the hops are packed in bags of 
about 180 to 200 lbs. for sale. As they lose their fragrance 
and strength by age, they rapidly depreciate by keeping; 
and a year old hops are of but little value. 

The spent hops from the brewery are an excellent man- 
ure, when decomposed in a compost, and should* never be 
neglected by farmers or hop growers who can procure them 
conveniently. 

Cabbages are an excellent feeding crop, especially for 
sheep, and are largely grown also for sale in the markets of 
towns and villages. This crop is subject to all the require- 
ments and necessities of a root crop, and can be grown in a 
rotation in the place of turnips, or ruta bagas, or other roots. 
As it needs good manuring and clean culture, and also yields 
a very large quantity of useful fodder or salable produce — 
24 tons per acre is a fair yield — it is profitably grown . be- 
tween two grain crops. An advantage in this crop is that 
early potatoes may be taken before it, and thus two crops 
grown in one season and both are productive and profitable. 

The land is planted with the first crop as early as possi- 
ble, and is cultivated often so as to hurry it through early 



THE CULTURE OF CABBAGES. 321 

in July, when the cabbage plants are ready in the bed for 
the second crop. The cabbage seed is sown in a bed of rich 
fine soil in May, and the plants are transplanted when large 
enough, into another bed, and set 3 inches apart, so as to 
get large fibrous roots and a stocky growth. As soon as 
the potatoes are taken up they are sent to market at once 
and usually bring $1. or more per bushel; the land is then 
worked over; the Acme harrow being the best implement 
for this purpose, fitting an acre an hour in the most perfect 
manner without any plowing, leveling the ridges, and leav- 
ing an even mellow surface ready for the new crop. The 
potato vines are gathered with a horse rake and carried 
from the field to the compost heap — which is a most neces- 
sary adjunct to every well cultivated farm. A marker, 
having runners 3 feet apart, is drawn across the harrow 
mar^s, making rows in which the plants are set out 2 feet 
apart in the rows. By taking care to draw the Acme har- 
row evenly across the field, lapping one-half of the ground 
at each turn, the distance between the plants in the row 
can be kept even, after the first row is set out, by observing 
the course of the cross marks. 

No manure is required for the cabbage crop, as a liberal 
quantity is plowed in for the potatoes; but a dressing of ar- 
tificial fertilizer, superphosphate of lime, guano, or fine bone 
dust, is given; being sown upon the land after the working 
with the harrow. 500 or 600 pounds per acre is generally 
used. Frequent working with the horse hoe is required; 
and if the land is as clean of weeds as it should be, no hand 
hoeing in the rows is needed. ^With good cultivation, and 
on good ground, three-fourths of the cabbages will make 
good, solid, salable heads; and at times, with the best grown 
and fresh seed, 90 per cent, of the crop will be solid heads,. 
and will sell for $5. per hundred wholesale. This will 
amount to over $300. per acre; a very satisfactory result 
for a second crop, and paying well for the extra care in the 
culture that is required. The author has taken 150 bushels 
of Early Rose potatoes from half an acre early in July; 
realizing $150. for the crop; and in November has sold 



322 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

3200 cabbages from the same half acre, at $5.50 per hun- 
dred; making for the season's income from this half acre 
$326.; which was nearly as much as the income from 10 
acres of wheat the same year. 

The worst enemies to this crop are club foot and the 
green worm. The former is the larva of a black fly which 
is akin to the onion fly. The worm is a small white grub 
which eats into the root and deforms it, causing the cab- 
bage to wilt and become worthless. The remedy is lime, 
spread on the land before planting, at the rate of 40 bushels 
per acre. This trouble is never experienced when cabbages 
are grown upon ground w r here turnips or cabbages have not 
been grown for three years. The green worm which is the 
larva of the white cabbage butterfly — and other species be- 
sides this — are all easily kept in subjection by the use of 
Persian insect powder, or a strong solution of saltpeter 
scattered over the plants. 

Onions. — Under special and favorable circumstances the 
culture of onions may be made extremely profitable. At 
times the crop brings in as much as $500. per acre; but at 
the low prices sometimes prevailing the income from a full 
product is rarely less than $300. per acre. 

The soil best adapted for this crop is a reclaimed and 
drained swamp. The black vegetable soil seems to provide 
precisely the right sort of food and conditions for it, and to 
give the bulbs the most desirable flavor and mildness. There 
are a few localities, where this kind of soil prevails, as in 
the town of Goshen, in Orange County, New York; Berea, 
in Ohio; Wethersfield, in Connecticut; Kalamazoo, in Mich- 
igan; which have become noted for the profitable culture of 
this crop; and the methods there followed may be imitated 
elsewhere with advantage. 

The low black soil is first drained by means of open 
ditches to dry the surface sufficiently to enable it to be well 
cultivated, and no more; for moisture is indispensable to 
the finest quality of this vegetable. It is then thoroughly 
grubbed and freed from all obstacles to the most perfect 
tillage, and plowed and manured or fertilized. For this 



THE CULTURE OF ONIONS. 323 

crop, the soil is the vehicle for the conveyance of food to the 
crop, quite as much as for the furnishing of it from its own 
resources. Hence perfect tillage is indispensable for the 
proper digestion of the manure in the soil, to fit it for the 
nutrition of the plants. This point is especially noteworthy; 
for as has been explained heretofore, plant food is digested 
in the soil by the chemical action of the atmosphere aided 
by the finely divided and porous condition of the land; and 
therefore where high manuring is necessary for the produc- 
tion of any crop, it is equally necessary that the soil should 
be most thoroughly pulverized. And while this is desira- 
ble for any crop, it is indispensable for success with onions. 

For this reason onions will grow upon any kind of soil if 
it is made quite fine, and is filled with manure. "As rich as 
an onion bed" has thus become a popular byword, but it is a 
true one, and is justified by the facts. The manure should 
be fine so that it may be intimately mixed with the soil by 
harrowing; and no other implement so perfectly does this 
work as the Acme pulverizing harrow; for its peculiar ac- 
tion in cutting up the soil, smoothing it, and turning it over, 
mixes the fine manure with it so that these shallow rooted 
plants can get a full sujmly of it. This crop needs to have 
its food near the surface. 

The best fertilizers for onions are superphosphate of lime, 
of which 600 lbs. per acre is generally useA; wood ashes, 20 
to 40 bushels per acre; salt, 5 or 6 bushels; and night soil 
composted with earth which is the best of manures, because 
it is fine, rich in all the required elements of plant food, and 
rapidly decomposes in the soil. The land thus well pre- 
pared and brought to a smooth level surface, is sown with 
12 to 20 lbs. of seed per acre. The most popular varieties 
are the yellow Danvers; white globe; and red Wethersfield; 
in the order named. The last mentioned is the best keeper; 
the second is the mildest flavored; and the first is the most 
prolific and is but slightly inferior to the others in their best 
points. The seed is sown by a hand drill which drops and 
covers it and rolls the land over it. This is a convenient 
method, because it leaves the rows well marked for the early 



324 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

use of the cultivator which follows the sowing very soon, 
and before the young plants are visible. The rows are 
made 12 inches apart. 

In a week the seed sower is changed to a hand cultivator, 
and is run along the rows, straddling them and stirring the 
soil on both sides, so as to destroy the newly germinating 
weeds. This work is repeated frequently, not only to kill 
the weeds, but for the purpose of helping the growth of the 
crop. When the young plants are well up, they are thinned 
out with a narrow "onion hoe" to 6 inches apart; some 
growers leave them no more than 4 inches from each other, 
and when the soil is very rich, the bulbs may crowd upon 
each other in the rows. A crop thus grown has measured 
800 bushels to the acre and has sold for $1.25 per bushel. 

The rows must be kept clean and free from weeds. This 
is a special point in the culture of this crop. When the 
bulbs are of good size, some of the plants will throw up thick 
hollow seed stems, and these are to be broken dow r n, lest the 
bulbs stop growing. A light roller or a bundle of brush 
is drawn over the rows to effect this purpose. When they 
are ripe the bulbs are taken up with a digging fork or hook, 
and left in rows upon the ground to dry for two or three 
days. They are then stored on an upper floor of a dry loft, 
or in shallow bins, in a building kept for the purpose. 
Freezing does not injure them, if they are kept frozen by 
covering them with straw to prevent thaw T ing in a mild 
spell. Warmth will cause them to sprout and become in- 
jured for sale or use. 

The worst enemy of the onion grower is the maggot which 
bores in the bulb when it is small; and the cutworm whose 
bad habits are well known. Prof. Riley the first entomolo- 
gist in America, advises the following method of evading 
these pests. 

"As a preventive treat the land early in spring with a 
mixture of lime and ashes, preferably Avood ashes. This 
mixture should be lightly spread over the land after plow- 
ing and harrowed in. If, after the seed is sown, and the 
plants begin to come up, the worms appear and threaten 



THE ONION FLY. 325 

damage, employ the poisoned ball system, which, in brief, 
consist in placing along the rows, at a distance of 15 or 20 
feet apart, small bunches of fresh cut grass or other green 
plant," cabbage leaves answer a good purpose. These 
bunches of grass or green plant should be previously sprink- 
led with Paris green or London purple. Should the worms 
still appear in great numbers by migration from surround- 
ing fields, sprinkle the ground at night, while the worms 
are at work, with a diluted emulsion of kerosene. A Goshen 
grower has used pure kerosene for killing the worms, simply 
blackening, not killing, the onion tips. The free use of 
pure kerosene may injure the plants, hence an emulsion is 
recommended as safer and cheaper. The kerosene is emul- 
sified with soap or milk in order that it may readily dilute 
with water. There is little doubt but that by some spray- 
ing of the fields at night with this mixture the worms can 
be destroyed by wholesale. It should be used most thor- 
oughly at the points in the field where the worms are first 
noticed at work, and from which they spread to surround- 
ing points." 

Some other crops which are found profitable under va- 
rious local circumstances, are Celery, which succeeds to 
perfection upon reclaimed muck swamps and black bottom 
soil; Musk and Water Melons, which require a similar 
culture to that of cabbages; Tomatoes, which are grown 
in the same manner as potatoes, but require the whole sea- 
son to mature; and Cucumbers, which are in demand for 
pickling. All these crops may be made very profitable by 
good culture, and will come conveniently and usefully in a 
rotation as a fallow and manuring crop; benefiting the soil; 
destroying weeds; and preparing the land for a succeeding 
crop. 

It is not alone the business of the good farmer to study 
his art, to practice every known device, and apply every 
fact he may learn to increase the produce of his land, and yet 
leave it improved in condition, or at the least no worse for 
the enlarged products; but it is also his business to choose 
such crops as he can make most profitable ; watching the 



326 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

course of events; acquainting himself with the requirements 
of the markets; and thus making his land the means of 
bringing in the largest money return. The ordinary rou- 
tine of farming is often too closely adhered to for the best 
results to the farmer. He may grow vegetables for the mar- 
kets near by, or for those of distant cities; he may grow 
fruits, small and large; grow cucumbers and apples, and of 
the latter make vinegar to pickle the former; he may even 
manufacture his produce into finished and more salable ar- 
ticles; he may do all this, and yet be a farmer; and the 
more of this he does the more accomplished and successful 
farmer he will be. 

But the more he knows of the inner secrets of his art and 
the better he can till his land, the better he can turn all his 
work to profit and advantage. His crops will be larger, he 
will choose those which sell the most readily and for the 
most money; he will work up as much as he can, using his 
knowledge and skill for the purpose of making his products 
more profitable. Every producer, of whatever kind of com- 
modities he may have to sell, must study his' markets and 
learn everything possible of the disposition of his wares. 
Otherwise he is working blindly and in the dark, and to 
great disadvantage. 

So the farmer must not confine himself altogether to his 
fields and his barns and his crops. His own mind and in- 
telligence offer a broad field and deep rich soil for culture 
of the most productive and profitable kind. The more he 
knows, the more he. can do; and the more he can make his 
work and practice meet the necessities of the world which 
he supplies. How many farmers know what the new pro- 
cess of milling wheat is, and how the wheat he grows is 
adapted for it? There is 10 cents a bushel difference between 
the market value of two kinds of wheat of the same grade, 
simply on account of the adaptability of the one kind for 
this new process, by which a large quantity of more nutri- 
tious flour is procured from the better variety of wheat. 
There is money in this knowledge. 

Again, if the market values of wheats are studied, it will 



SELF CULTURE OF THE FARMER. 327 

be found that there is a wider difference still between the 
qualities of the grain, which vary at least 25 per cent, in 
the market values. This must bring loss to many farmers, 
and the loss is more than doubled by the less quantity pro- 
duced of the poorer grain. Instances might be multiplied 
without end in which farmers have neglected to cultivate 
themselves, while they have necessarily failed to cultivate 
their soil as profitably as they might have done. 
[ When this fact is realized — and it is the hope of the author 
that the perusal of the pages of this little work may 
lead to this knowledge — the earnest farmer desiring to suc- 
ceed in his work to the utmost, will spare no efforts to gain 
all the information and knowledge he can that relates to the 
practice of his vocation, so that he may become acquainted 
fully with all the principles which underlie The Culture of 
Farm Crops as well as of the best means of disposing of his 
produce. 

THE END. 



-«1PPENDIX> 



TABLE I. 

QUANTITY OF SEED PER ACRE OF 

Wheat in drills 1 bushel 

Wheat broadcast 13^ " 

Corn in hills or drills 14 " 

Corn for fodder 1 " 

Rye 13^ « 

Oats 2]/ 2 " 

Barley 2 " 

Peas iy/ << 

Beans \x/ " 

Potatoes 5 to 10 " 

Millet 1/ «< 

Flax ]4Xol 

Buckwheat 1^ << 

Broom corn 4 quarts. 

Sorghum sugar cane 6 " 

Alfalfa 20 pounds. 

Clover . 10 to 15 " 

*Timothy grass 6 to 10 " 

♦Orchard grass 20 to 30 " 

*Red top 20 " 

♦Kentucky blue grass 20 " 

♦Meadow fescue 24 " 

♦Italian rye grass 24 " 

♦Perennial rye grass 20 " 

♦Meadow foxtail 20 " 

Mangels and Beets 4 to 6 M 

Rutabaga 2 to 4 " 

Turnips 1 to 2 " 

Carrots 5 to 8 " 

Melons and cucumbers 1 <* 

Onions for bulbs to 12 " 

Onions for sets 30 " 

Onions sets 10 bushels. 

♦In mixture 30 pounds per acre in the aggregate divided equally. 



APPENDIX. 329 

TABLE II. 

NUMBER OF HILLS PEP ACRE AT 

2% feet apart 6 - 970 

3 feet by 1 foot 14 - 520 

3 feet by 2 feet 7 ' 2()0 

3 feet by 3 feet 4 • S4 ° 

4 feet by 3 feet 3 - 630 

9 799 

4 feet by 4 feet ~'_-~ 

5 feet by 5 feet L74 ^ 

6 feet by 6 feet ^jj 

7 feet by 7 feet 10 ™ 

12 feet by 12 feet "J ) - 

15 feet by 15 feet J 94 

20 feet by 20 feet ™ 9 

30 feet by 30 feet 48 

TABLE III 

WEIGHTS OF A BUSHEL OF 

Wheat 60 pounds. 

Corn ^ 

Cornmeal 4Sto50 u 

Barley « „ 

Buckwheat *° 

°» ts 56 « 

^ e GO « 

Beans °" (| 

Onions °" 

Potatoes 60 gi 

i*- ■ :: 

Clover seed vyj 

Timothy i0 u 

Orchard grass ld 

TABLE IV. 

A barrel of apples or potatoes 180 pounds. 

A barrel of flour 196 " 

\ barrel, liquid measure 40 gallons. 

A U. s. standard gallon contains 231 cubic inches. 

A box 17%xl5x8 inches holds 1 bushel. 

A box 14^x10x7% inches holds Vi ' 

A box 18^x15x10 inches holds a heaped bushel. 



^INDEX.K 



A 

Air, circulation of in leaves 249 

Alfalfa, cultivation of. 290 

Ammonia 31-70 

" absorbed by porous 

substances 70 

' ' dissolved by water 70 

" composition of. 71 

" bow detected 72 

" its combinations 72 

'• absorption of by gypsum 74 
" formation of in tbe soil.. 75 
' ' its action upon plant 

growth 76 

sulphate of. 229 

Animal manures 196 

Anther, the 254 

Ash of plants, composition of. ..99-102 

Ashes, wood 219 

Ashes, wood, as manure 214 

Atmosphere, diffusion of oxygen in 23 

weight of 24-41 

of the 40 

" motionsof. 42 

" waves of 42 

Atomic, weights 33 

B 

Barley, cultivation of. 299 

Beans, cultivation of. 303 

Blood and flesh, dried 231 

Bones, as a fertilizer 231 

" composition of. 114 

Buckwheat, cultivation of. 301 

C 

Cabbages, cultivation of. 320 

Carbon, its properties 17 

" how it enters into plants.. 78 

Carbonic acid, in the air 62 

" combines with 

alkalies 63 



Carbonic acid, sources of 64 

" its properties 60- 

" is produced by 

combustion..'. 61 

contain' d in marble 61 
" as food for plants... 61 

Calcium, its compounds 112 

" chloride of. 113 

Castor oil pomace 232 

Cells of plants 237 

" contents of 237 

" how they increase 238 

" centers of plant life 239 

Cellular fiber, composition of 237 

Charcoal, its properties 18 

" its effect on vegetation IS 
Chemical combination, laws of.:.. 38 

Chlorine 117 

Chlorophyll, of plants 249 

Clay soils, improvement of 165- 

Clover, roots of 20 

" cultivation of 288 

" hay, composition of 289 

Cold, lowest degree of 58 

' ' mixtures for producing 58 

Composition of farm crops 147-148 

Composts 209 

" materials for 194-210 

" composition of 210' 

Corn, cultivation of. 296 

" improvement of 297 

" for fodder 290 

Cotton, cultivation of 308 

Cotton seed, its use as manure 232 

" composition of 309 

Cow peas, cultivation of 302 

Crops, analysis of, not a safe guide. 153 

" large, how grown 164 

" rotation of. 278 

" for soiling 287 

" cultivating 188 



INDEX. 



331 



D 

Dew 51 

Decomposition of matter 15 

Ditches, size of 169 

Drains, materials for 170 

" how made 171 

Draining land 167 

Diastaste, effect upon starch 236 

E 

Earth, the, formation of. 120 

" the early history of 121 

Electricity, produces nitric ac- 
id in the air 68 

Elements, inorganic 93 

" organic 16 

Elementary bodies 14 

Embryo of plants, formation of 255 

Evaporation, absorption of heat by 57 
' ' of water from soils. .134-138 
" of water from plants. ..248 
Exhaustion of soils, how pro- 
duced 272 

F 

Fallowing, summer, effects of 188 

Farm Crops, culture of 271 

Feeding substances, composit'n of.105 

Feldspar, composition of 125 

Fertilizing matter in green man- 
ures 206 

Fertility, amount of m the soil 273 

how exhausted 275 

Filament of the flower 254 

Fish scrap, as manure 230 

Flax, cultivation of 310 

Flowers, the production of. 253 

" parts of. 253 

Forms of matter 12 

Fodder crops 286 

Freezing mixtures 58 

" in cellars, how prevented.. 58 

Fructification, the process of 255 

Fruit, the, its formation and 
character 258 

a 

Germ, the, of the seed 256 

Germination of seeds 236 

" changes produced by. .258 

Grass, importance of 159 

• ' growth of under irrigation. .159 

" cultivation of. 282 

Grasses, mixed for different soils...284 

Green manuring 203 

" results of 204 



Green manuring, plants for 205 

Green crops, for manure, compo- 
sition of 206 

Green crops, for manure, how- 
used 207 

Grain crops, cultivation of 293 

Granite, composition of 124 

" soils formed from 124 

Guano, as a fertilizer 222 

Gum, composition of 237 

Gypsum 217 

" composition of 113 

H 

Harrow, Acme pulverizing 186 

HarroAvs, kinds in use 185 

Harrowing, effects upon the soil. ..184 

losses by defective 185 

" necessity for perfect... 276 

Heat, influence upon vegetation... 52 

" what it is 53 

" force of. 53-55 

" absorbed by water 54 

Hemp, cultivation of 311 

Hops, cultivation of 317 

" composition of 318 

Hornblende, composition of 126 

Humus 19 

Hybridizing plants 266 

Hydrogen, its properties 28 

" weight of 28 

" its compounds 29 

I 

Improvement of plants by cross'g...264 
Inorganic elements, comp'dsof....l07 

Irrigation, value of 158 

" of crops 173 

" methods of 174 

" work on 176 

K 
Kainite 220 



Laws of plant growth 97-196 

Leaves, functions of. 249 

" pores of 250 

" absorb carbonic acid 251 

Leather scraps, as manure 232 

Lime, how made 112 

*' a constituent of plants 112 

" its compounds 113 

" effects of in soils 166 

" in composts 211 

" as a manure 214 



332 



INDEX. 



Limestone 127 

" decomposition of 13 

" ground 217 

Lucern, cultivation of 200 

M 

Magnesium, compounds of. 114 

Mangels, effects of salt upon i:;7 

Manufactured manures 224 

Manure, hen, composition of. 202 

Manures, ammoniacal effects of..76-S0 

" decornj>osition of in 

the soil 144 

" effects of 155 

" mechanical effects of 192 

" how mixed with soil 193 

" animal 196 

" liquid, value of. 199 

" farm, composition of 200 

" green, composition of... .206 

" loss of by exposure 201 

vegetable 203 

" mineral 213 

" complete 228 

Marl 216 

Matter, two forms only 12 

" organic and inorganic 12 

Meadows, irrigated 175 

" permanent 282 

Mica, composition of 125 

Mineral manures, value of 223 

Mixture of grasses 283 

Muriate of potash 220 

N 

Night soil, value of, for manure. ..200 
Niter beds, for making nitric acid 67 

Nitrate of lime 113 

Nitric acid 31-65 

" combination of. 91 

" consumption of by 

crops 66-68 

" in the atmosphere 66 

Nitrogen, its properties 29 

absorbed by water 30 

its combinations 30 

relation of to plant 
growth 84 

developed in sbils 85 

in a crop of hay 85 

procured from the at- 
mosphere 85 

dissolved by water 86 

in coal 87 

in fertilizers 89 

how it enters into plants 92 



Nitrogen, in clover 68 

" in urine 198 

Nutriment stored in plants 261 

o 

Oats, cultivation of 298 

Onions, cultivation of. 322 

Orchard grass 283 

Organic elements p; 

Organic matter, properties of. 33 

" combination of... 33 

Organic elements, as plant food... 36 

" how they en- 
ter plants 37 

Oxalic acid no 

Oxidation 23 

Oxygen, its properties 21 

" discovery of. 21 

" soluble in water 22 

" consumed in burning 

coal 24 

" consumed in respiration. 24 
" indispensable to plant 

growth 163 

" absorbed by porous soils.,138 
Ozone 26 

P 

Peas, cultivation of. 302 

Phosphorus 115 

Phosphoric acid 114-116 

Phosphate of lime 114-219 

Pistil, the, and its parts 255 

Plants, how composed 35 

" inorganic elements of. 93 

" substance of, derived 

from the air 93 

" ash of. 94 

" mineral food of. 95 

growth, law of. 97-196 

" composition of. 102-105 

" first growth of. 122 

" vary with the soil 151 

" structure and growth of. ...234 

" how they grow 235 

nutrition of. 239 

" reproductive organs of 253 

" improvement of. 267 

Plant food, in an acre of soil 145 

" removed from the 

soil by crops 147-149 

Plant growth, laws of 152 

Plaster, its composition and uses....H3 

Plow, construction of 161 

" subsoil, use of. 162 

Plowing, effects of. 160 



INDEX. 



333 



Plowing, how done 275 

• ' purpose and results of 178 

how performed 17 ( J 

hillsides 182 

" in manure 195 

Pollen of plants 255 

Potatoes, cultivation of. 306 

" sweet, cultivation ot 307 

Potash 108 

" as plant food 108 

" sulphate of. 109 

" muriate of 109 

" nitrate of. 110 

" oxalate of 110 

" tartrates of Ill 

" citrates of Ill 

" German salts of 112 

" salts 220 

Potassium, its compounds 107 

chloride 109 

Practice of soiling 287 

R 

Ripening, changes produced by ...258 

Rocks, composition of 123 

" character of. 123 

" effect of, upon the soil 125 

" a guide to the character 

of soils 129 

Roots, functions of 82-241 

" penetration of 103 

" power of selecting food 212 

" rejection of useless mat- 
ter by 244 

" store nutriment 245 

Root crops, cultivation of. 304 

Roots and stubble, value of. 207 

Rotation of crops 106 

Rotation, longer advisable 281 

Rye, for fodder 290 

" cultivation of. 300 

S 

Salt, composition of 111-221 

" asa fertilizer Ill 

" fertilizer for mangels 137 

Sandstones 128 

Sandy soils, improvement of 166 

Sap, circulation of in plants 247 

Seed, selection of 268 

Seeds of plants, how formed 259 

always reproduce them- 
selves 262 

Shell lime 217 

Silica, as a constituent of plants. ..116 
Silicon 116 



Silo, construction of 287 

Snow, its forms and character 46 

Soda ill 

" nitrate of, effects of on wheat 91 

Sodium, its compounds Ill 

" chloride of Ill 

sulphate of 112 

Soil, accumulation of carbon in... 19 

" virgin, formation of 119 

'' functions of the 142 

" exhaustion of 143-149 

" the manufactory of plant 

food 144 

" barren, composition of 146 

" a storehouse of plant food 153 

" improvement of by chemi- 
cal means 196 

" natural fertility of. 150 

Soils, physical properties of. 130 

" sandy, free from frost 131 

" loess, of Nebraska 131 

" limestone 131 

" difficult to plow 132 

" absorption of moisture by ...133 

" peaty, value of 133 

" alluvial 128 

" fertile, composition of.... 127-145 

" variations in 128 

" improvement of, by mechan- 
ical methods 155 

" drainage, effect of 155 

" effects of variations of. in 

plants 152 

" dark, absorb heat 140 

" thorough pulverization of, 

necessary 137-154 

" effects of cultivation of 136 

Soiling crops 286 

Solar rays, influence of 25 

Soot from soft coal 232 

Special manures 228 

Species, the persistence of 257-262 

Sporting of plants 269 

Springs, nature and action of 168 

Stamens of plants 254 

Starch 237 

" composition of 62 

" converted into sugar 236 

Stems, functions of 247 

Subsoil plowing 162 

Sugar, needed for germination 237 

" composition of 237 

Sulphate of lime 113-220 

Sulphur, its combinations 116 

Sunlight, effects of on plant 
growth 250 



334 



INDEX. 



Superphosphate of lime 114-224 

" " composi- 

tion of differ- 
ent brands of...226 
" " how to 

make 227 

" " how to use. .227 
Swamp muck, the value of. 116 

T 

Tillage, implements of. 274 

" importance of 183-275 

Tobacco, composition of 312 

" cultivation of 312 

Trees, various, ash of 279 

Turnips, cultivation of. 307 

U 

Urea, composition of 90 

Urine, composition of 198 

V 

Vegetable life, its beginning 25 

"Vegetable matter decomposition of 15 



W 

Water contained in crops 35 

its composition 45 

weight <>f 45 

freezing of 45 

as food lor plants 47 

absorption of gases by I s 

impurities in I s 

solvent powers of 48 

formed by combustion of 

hydrogen 19 

decomposition of in plants. 50 

vapor of 50 

latent heat of 54 

absorbed by soils 134 

diffusion of through soils....]:; I 

excess of, injurious 156 

required for irrigation 177 

Weeds, destroyed by summer 
fallowing 191 

Wheat, variations of 151 

culture of. 293 

Woody fiber, composition of 237 

Wool waste 232 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



'ACME" 
Pulverizing Harrow, 




Clod Crusher and Leveler. 






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GO 

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Variety of Sizes Working- from three to 

fifteen feet wide. 

Prices Range from $16.00 to $59.00 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

"ACME" Pulverizing Harrow, 

CLOD CRUSHER & LEVELER. 

The "ACME" has been subjected to the most thorough 
practical tests in all sections of the country; the testimo- 
nials published in my illustrated pamphlet furnish abundant 
proof of its wide-spread popularity and establish beyond 
doubt the claim that it is adapted to a great variety of soils 
and is indeed the best implement of its class yet produced. 
In fact, it is the only Pulverizer combining a 

CLOD CRUSHER, LEVELER & HARROW, 

performing the three operations at one time, and is believed 
to be the only one yet offered that will do its work thor- 
oughly in all kinds of ground, leaving the soil in a light, 
loose condition, just as the farmer desires to have it. 

While it is invaluable for all purposes where a harrow is 
needed it is 

Peculiarly adapted to hard clay and 
inverted sod, 

and to ground which has become packed and baked after 
plowing, as well as to leveling uneven land. 



A prominent agricultural writer, who is a practical far- 
mer, after demonstrating clearly that an increase of 
five bushels of winter grain may be obtained with one 
dollar's worth of extra pulverization of the soil (a net 
increase in money value of four dollars per acre 
above cost), says : "The great benefit conferred on farmers 
"by a general introduction of the "ACME" Pulverizing 
"Harrow, Clod Crusher and Leveler becomes obvious. If 
"the five hundred million bushels of grain raised annually 
"in the United States, on forty million acres of land could 
"be easily increased but three bushels per acre above cost, 
"it would add more than a hundred million bushels of 
"wheat to the product of the Union above actual expense. 
"By assisting in the wider introduction of this efficient im- 
"plement, enterprising farmers and citizens would promote 
"the substantial interests of the whole country." 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Beware of Imitations ! 



TRADE 




MARK. 



All GENUINE "ACME" Harrows have Flexible Gang Bars. 

Figure 1. 



Fig. 1 shows front coul- 
ters passing an obstruc- 
tion such as stone, knoll, 
corn stubbie, or other 
rubbisn — the rear coul- 
ters remain at work in 
the soil. 



This flexibility admits of one bar dropping into furrow, while the 
other bar is working on a higher level, and it enables the driver 
with the aid of the lilting lever, to clear the Harrow of rubbish 
which may accumulate under the coulters. ■ 

In other harrows where the gang liars are fastened rigidly togeth- 
er, neither bar will remain on the ground when the other bar is 
passing an obstruction, nor will either bar drop into a dead furrow 
or other hollow when the other bar is on a higher level. Neither 
can rigid bar harrows be cleared of rubbish without the driver leaves 
his sent and lifts the harrow. 




IVew Style "ACME" Harrows, IVos. lO, 11 and 12 
liave Reversible Coulters, viz: 

When worn out on one end they may be turned "end for end'* 
and in fuel are equal in point of durability to two sets of Coulters. 

Adjustable Coulters, viz: 

The Coulters on this style may be adjusted to cut over more or 
less of the surface. In summer fallow the Coulters may be adjusted 
to "overlap" so as to practically clean the ground of weeds, if they 
have not been allowed to grow up rank. Again on ground where 
there is loose rubbish, the coulters may be set with less flare, and 
when thus set the Harrow draws easier. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Two-Wheel Sulky Attachment 



FOR THI 




"ACME" Pulverizing Harrow, 

Clod Crusher and Leveler. 

Can be attached to or detached from the Harrow in ten minutes. 
It is arranged so as to regulate the depth of work completely, and 
can be used in transporting the Harrow on the road. 

The Sulky is very valuable in covering grain, and especially so 
where there is rubbish, such as corn stubble, as by means of the 
Lever, the Harrow may be instantly raised from the ground so that 
the rubbish will readily pass out from iinder the Coulters. 

Where the ground is hard, so as to require extra weight on the 
Harrow to force it into the soil, the entire weight of the Sulky may 
be put on the Harrow by simply pushing the Lever forward, thus 
adding about 80 pounds to the weight. 



— :o- 



"From His Own Experience in Preparing- Ground 
"For Winter Grain, by the use of the "ACME" Pulverizing 
"Harrow, the writer is quite free to say that had this implement 
"been used instead of the common harrow, the loss of wheat by the 
"hard Avinter would have been trivial, and that many a single acre 
"which has not returned the seed sown upon it, might easily have 
"made enough grain to have paid the whole cost of this imple- 
"ment." 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



ON TRIAL. 

DO \OT BE DECEIVED. Don't let dealers palm off a 
base imitation or some inferior tool under the assurance that it is 
better, SATISFY YOURSELF BY ORDERING AN "ACME" 
ON TRIAL. 

I will send a DOUBLE GANG "ACME 1 ' to any responsible 
farmer in the United States; if it does not suit, he may send it back 
I paying return freight. I don't ask pay until tried on his own 
farm. 

Prices Range from $16.00 to $59.00 



Substantial Guarantee. 

I hereby warrant each and every part of each and every 

"ACME" Pulverizing Harrow, 

Clod Crusher and Leveler 
against breakage, for the term of one season after it leaves 
the manufactory or any of my storehouses — and I hereby 
authorize Agents and Dealersto FURNISH FREE NEW 
PARTS TO REPLACE BROKEN PARTS; the only 
stipulation being that the farmer demanding such parts 
shall sign a statement that the breakage occurred in fair* 



DI&TBIBmiNjQ BEPQT&. 

Goods are delivered free on board at— New York — Columbus, 
0._ Chicago, III.— Kansas City, Mo.— Minneapolis, Minn.— 

Louisville, Ky. — but all communications should be addressed to 

Mwam& M* Wmkt 

Sole ManufgtGture*,; 

Millimgtm, M@rrw Q@* 9 New Mtmy* 



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